Can California elect a Republican to the Senate? In a more conventional time, that might seem like a fanciful question. But with Scott Brown’s improbable victory in true-blue Massachusetts, it’s very much within the realm of possibility. Further underscoring that point, today’s New York Times reports on the surprisingly competitive race between three Republican challengers to unseat 17-year Senate veteran and liberal icon Barbara Boxer. California Democrats continue to enjoy some traditional advantages – 1.5 million more registered voters, for one – but Boxer’s hold on the Senate seat seems increasingly precarious, and her past political success is not necessarily prologue:
John J. Pitney Jr., a political science professor at Claremont McKenna College, said Mrs. Boxer’s previous easy victories in Senate races could be misleading, since they took place in what were more favorable political environments. “She may be more vulnerable than it seems at first,” Professor Pitney said.
The tightening poll numbers bear this out, and even Boxer herself acknowledges:
http://www.newsrealblog.com/2010/03/02/the-next-scott-brown/
