Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Republicans poised to lose to Boxer in 2010

As a Californian, I'm well aware that Sen. Barbara Boxer is not the best conceivable senator the Democrats could hope for. She is a fine progressive, but not the most talented politician in the world and there's certainly a possibility that a fiscally-moderate, socially-liberal Rockefeller Republican could mount a strong contest to her. California is Democratic and liberal, but there is a real strain of mild fiscal conservatism in the state that its most successful politicians are able to tap. Schwarzenegger is as popular as polio in the state right now, but he's the sort that can make a race of it. Carly Fiorina is probably not--I'm guessing she's Rockefellerish, but the political moxy she showed as a stumper for McCain makes me think she's not likely to be able to beat Boxer. But it's not inconceivable to me. Since NY-23 is over, though, it looks like it's time for the teabaggers to meddle in exciting new races, and that means California:
A California Republican aiming to unseat Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) next year has gotten a boost from conservative Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) [...] "California is ready for a turn back to freedom," DeMint said. He said DeVore has a "record straight up the way mine is" and applauded the candidate for flying to Washington to meet him.
DeMint is on the cutting edge of these sorts of things, so look for this to pop up on the wingnut radar soon. The California GOP is one of the most inexplicable entities on the planet--they don't seriously try to gain power, they don't try to help solve peoples' problems, and they mostly just do everything possible to throw a wrench into California's government (which is not exactly hard) and jeer any attempt to fix any mess. There are a few of them who aren't worthless, but one frequently wonders why they even bother to run for office, considering how poorly they frequently acquit themselves.

My point is that California Republicans will so totally back DeVore against Fiorina, and while I doubt that they are so deluded as to think that a Jim DeMint-style Republican will win the seat, I guess they'll be able to have some satisfaction that they'll be represented by a very liberal Democrat instead of a moderate Republican. Putting myself in their shoes, that makes no sense to me at all, but I guess it makes sense to them.
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The Man, The Myth, The Bio

East Bay, California, United States
Problem: I have lots of opinions on politics and culture that I need to vent. If I do not do this I will wind up muttering to myself, and that's only like one or two steps away from being a hobo. Solution: I write two blogs. A political blog that has some evident sympathies (pro-Obama, mostly liberal though I dissent on some issues, like guns and trade) and a culture blog that does, well, cultural essays in a more long-form manner. My particular thing is taking overrated things (movies, mostly, but other things too) down a peg and putting underrated things up a peg. I'm sort of the court of last resort, and I tend to focus on more obscure cultural phenomena.