LINCOLN -- Nebraska's Republican attorney general Jon Bruning looks set to throw everything but the kitchen sink at Nebraska's senior incumbent U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel.

Bruning raised $720,000 for his campaign to unseat Hagel as the endorsed GOP Senate candidate in just the second quarter of 2007, he announced in a recent press release. Almost all donations came from individuals, two-third of whom gave less than $100, the release stated.

Bruning publicized his latest fund-raising figures six weeks before required to by the Federal Electoral Commission (FEC). He recently has ratcheted-up his attacks on Hagel over the Senator's positions on Iraq and -- most recently -- illegal immigration.

The Hagel camp doesn't know yet how much his campaign banked in the past three months, the AP reported. Hagel's campaign had about $230,000 in the bank after the first quarter, according to an FEC report cited by the AP. Hagel has still not confirmed if he will seek another term.

The attorney general's campaign to unseat Hagel gained a significant boost from a recent posting by the directors of the influential pro-GOP blogsite RedState.com. The authors wrote that Nebraska Republicans should support Bruning in the primary because "Hagel has abandoned the GOP."

"It is time for the Republican Party to get behind Jon Bruning," the piece stated. "Jon Bruning is a solid conservative, a loyal Republican, and good man."

But Bruning's opponents have also come out swinging. In a posting last Thursday on Democrat* blogsite NewNebraska.com headed: 'Jon Bruning: Stupid Is As Stupid Does', author Kyle Michaelis slammed Bruning's recent attacks on Hagel.

"Bruning has abandoned his President on the [illegal immigration] issue just to score political points with the most rabid fringe element of the Republican base," Michaelis wrote of Bruning's recent statements.

Still, Bruning clearly believes Hagel is vulnerable amongst Nebraska's GOP faithful to charges of disloyalty to the President over his long-standing criticism of Middle-East policy. Hagel critics like RedState.com have already boarded that bandwagon.

"Mr. Hagel has ignored what the troops are saying and instead has run to the nearest microphone to denounce the war," the recent pro-Bruning posting stated. "Mr. Hagel has done what he could to help himself, not the party, the people, nor the country."

Bruning has been Nebraska's attorney general since 2002.

*original copy corrected