Why would anyone want to leave the Senate majority to be governor of California in its current disarray?

"MoveOn.org and Democracy for America announced yesterday that they've secured $3.5 million in commitments to support primary challenges against Senate Democrats. . . ."

Wish the Dem leadership would take some similar steps, like denying chairmanships, etc.

Longevity-only promotions simply don't work anywhere, from civil service to education (not saying seniority shouldn't be a factor, just not the ONLY one).

the fact that carlyforicate has the backing of mcsame, president snowe and others doesn't count for squat.
who will el rushbo and caribou barbie support? that's what matters.

I'm sure that the endorsements of Carly Fiorina by Snowe and McCain is the kiss of death as far as the right-wing base is concerned.

I think Feinstein is just pulling a Lieberman: what can I say to get the press to pay attention to me?

I have a question on Feinstein.

If she runs and wins, she'll create an open seat in the Senate. Does Schwartzenegger get to fill that?

It would be nice to get Feinstein out of the Senate, and give her the opportunity to concentrate on fucking up her own state, instead of the whole country.

Actually that WILL work against Lieberman. Don't expect that Republicans will roll over for Lieberman again by putting up a pathetically weak candidate for Senate.

Why would they? They can do better than Lieberman who at best is an Arlen Specter type of flip-flopper. They will be emboldened by their "tea-bagger" movement to select a true-blue conservative.

And if they do, then who's going to vote for Lieberman? Whoever wins the Democratic primary will be better funded and organized. A viable Republican candidate will win 80% + of Republicans, which would doom Lieberman.

So, Lieberman needs to be the "Democrat" with only marginal Democratic opposition (1/3 of Democrats voted for him last time). That means either a very WEAK Democratic candidate, or else Lieberman winning the Democratic nomination. Then Lieberman can win by courting Independents and moderate Republicans.

So, unless Chris Shays becomes the Republican Senate candidate, there's no incentive for Republicans to tolerate Lieberman unless he officially switches to the Republican party.

But he won't do that. He gets FAR more publicity by being a rouge Democrat. As a Republican he'd simply be among the most liberal Republicans and be subject to party discipline.

When has Lieberman EVER been disciplined? He wouldn't like it at all having Rush Limbaugh tell him what to do all the time.

When has Lieberman EVER been disciplined?

For some reason I don't want to examine too closely, reading this just caused an image of McCain domming the hell out of an ecstatically submissive Lieberman to flash across my mind.

cugel,
while i do think that lieberman looks like death warmed over and could use the help, i don't think i'd go as far as to describe him as a rouge democrat.

Feinstein for gov. California's loss is the nation's gain.

I'd vote for a rotten potato for governer before I vote for Frankenfeinstein for anything again. Take your brown football helmet and retire you useless piece of shit!

And in still more California-related news, might Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D) run for governor? She seemed to be strongly leaning against the idea a few months ago, but yesterday, Feinstein said she hasn't ruled out the possibility.
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Well, she can't be too much worse than the gropinator, and maybe she could be replaced in the Senate by a Democrat. Win - win.

Steve: "And in still more California-related news, might Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D) run for governor? She seemed to be strongly leaning against the idea a few months ago, but yesterday, Feinstein said she hasn't ruled out the possibility."

And neither has Jerry Brown publicly stated that he WILL run for governor. Look, this is all so mindless.

First of all, the media speculates like clockwork every four years (as well as the occasional recall election) about whether Dianne Feinstein will run for California governor.

Second, while Sen. Feinstein has never discouraged public speculation in the media regarding her political ambitions, she's compellingly predictable with regard to her actual decision making.

Third, for all that incessant media speculation, Dianne Feinstein has run for California governor all of one time, when she lost that 1990 nail-biter to Sen. Pete Wilson.

Further, after watching Sen. Feinstein play the media like a cheap fiddle for years, I've come to think she rather enjoys all the attention showered upon her.

And finally, federal election law prohibits Sen. Feinstein from transferring her federal campaign war chest to a non-federal state race, so she'd start in a very deep financial hole if she were to declare in response to Jerry Brown's as-yet-unannounced prospective candidacy.

So, if I had to hazard an educated guees regarding Sen. Feinstein's intentions to occupy the ground floor suites in Sacramento's State Capitol annex, I'd say that the chances of her candidacy are between slim and none.

The only way I'd see her enter the race is if former Gov. Brown decides to forgo the effort himself, and the pathway is cleared for her nomination in the Democratic primary. And even then ...