I don’t know. But there must be some explanation for why Republicans seem to be doing so little to produce a strong candidate to challenge Boxer in 2010.
It’s particularly striking when you consider all the jockeying between potential Republican candidates in the 2010 race for governor. The California GOP is either dead or on life support, depending on whether you’re an optimist or a pessimist (and depending on what you think of Republicans). The party doesn’t have much money and has only a handful of potentially attractive statewide candidates.
In fact, the three strongest statewide candidates in the party might be Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, former Congressman Tom Campbell, and former eBay chief Meg Whitman, who made news this week by resigning corporate board seats to prepare for a career in politics. These three candidates, however, share a problem: they all want to be governor. And they’re going to run against each other.
Since all three are from Silicon Valley, I’d suggest they get together for lunch (Tom, for goodness sakes, please make sure you don’t get stuck with the check) and try to reach agreement that they won’t run against each other. I’ll even suggest the place: the Peninsula Creamery in Palo Alto. Even your blogger, a proud Southern Californian, must acknowledge that the Creamery has the best milkshakes in the state. And if these three want to burn off those calories after lunch, it’s a nice long walk from the Creamery to George Shultz’s office at Stanford — a station of the cross for Republicans running for office just about anywhere. (Question for my Republican friends: is there some sort of punishment — waterboarding? rendition?– administered to those reckless few who don?t stop by and see George?)
I’m not a Republican and could care less if the party wins Boxer’s seat. But senators run only every six years. And in a state as big and diverse as this one, an incumbent senator — for his or her own good — should face a serious challenge in each election. Voters deserve a choice. Last time, Boxer’s challenger (trivia question–do you remember who? Answer below*) couldn’t manage to raise enough money to have a real statewide TV ad buy.
That wouldn’t be a problem if Poizner or Whitman were a candidate for the Senate seat. Instead, however, it appears that the two billionaires will fight each other for the Republican gubernatorial nomination. Whoever emerges the winner will face an uphill battle against the Democrat in a Democratic state. (And don’t count out Campbell, the most experienced candidate, who could benefit from the same dynamic that, in 1998, delivered the Democratic gubernatorial nomination to Gray Davis after the rich candidates, Al Checchi and Jane Harman, tore each other’s eyes out).
So who does that leave to challenge Boxer? Well, Assemblyman Chuck DeVore has announced he’s running. I’m sure his name ID alone has Boxer running scared. And Gov. Schwarzenegger could make an intriguing candidate (all the compromising pictures of him were published long ago), except for the fact that he’s shown no interest in the job and is suffering serious political damage from the state’s political gridlock and budget crisis.
Perhaps some other contender could emerge. Or perhaps, Sen. Boxer has those photos after all.
(* Bill Jones)