Arkansas state Sen. Kim Hendren is, at the moment, the only Republican who has announced a challenge next year to U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D). How much longer he will be a candidate is open to speculation.

Eric Kleefeld, writing in Talking Points Memo, reports that Hendren has apologized for referring to New York Sen. Charles Schumer (D) as "that Jew" at a county Republican meeting last week.

"I don't use a teleprompter and occasionally I put my foot in my mouth," Hendren told Arkansas blogger Jason Tolbert.

"At the meeting I was attempting to explain that unlike Sen. Schumer, I believe in traditional values, like we used to see on 'The Andy Griffith Show,'" he explained. "I made the mistake of referring to Sen. Schumer as 'that Jew' and I should not have put it that way as this took away from what I was trying to say."

Late Update: Hendren gave a further apology to the Associated Press. "When I referred to him as Jewish, it wasn't because I don't like Jewish people," he said. He also added: "I shouldn't have gotten into this Jewish business because it distracts from the issue."

And here's another Hendren effort in explaining himself further, courtesy of Zack Stovall of the Arkansas News:

"I don't care if he's Jewish, Muslim, Catholic or whatever," Hendren said. "Although I said there was another Jew that I did agree with, and that was Jesus Christ."

Early hunch: If Hendren is the GOP nominee, Sen. Lincoln wins.

Tags: On The Ballot