CA Sen: Former State Senator Richard Mountjoy to challenge Feinstein

[Mr. Paleoconservative]

It is a shame that the CA Republican Party is not doing more to build in-roads against statewide giants like Feinstein.  Remember, Sen. John Tower built inroads for the Texas GOP when he fought LBJ and lost in a landslide, only to come back and win the seat months later.

[Mr. Paleoconservative]

Also, I can't understand your point: do you expect Feinstein to die or something?  Mountjoy is retired himself and is only running because the GOP needs a candidate.  Its extremely unlikely he will return at some later election. 

My point is that the CA GOP need to stop putting up candidates who are obviously "losers" in high profile races.  It was my point, that as part of a larger strategy to build momentum, they should front some kind of serious candidates in these high profile races even if the odds of victory in the CURRENT election is unlikely. 

California has titled liberal statewide for nearly two decades because the Republicans quit trying.  Schwarzenneger is not saving the party statewide, and fronting clowns for the U.S. Senate is not going to help either.  The GOP in California has consigned itself to minority party status because they really do not wish to put up the effort to become the majority, or even a strong minority.

[Mr. Paleoconservative]

If I remember correctly, the only reason Tower won was because then the Texas Democratic party was split between liberal and conservative wings. Typically the primaries would have a liberal vs. conservative, and whoever won was considered a shoo-in in the general election. In that case, a conservative Democrat won the primary, and thus many on the liberal wing led a campaign to vote for Tower in the general, with the theory being they could easily beat him later. Obviously that didn't work, but his initial victory was always a bit of a fluke.

If I recall, it was the other way around, as conservative Democrat Coke Stevens endorsed Tower giving him inroads with the Democratic voters.  I think it is a mistake to say Tower's victory was a fluke, as his election came as a result of years of work, planning, and campaigning.  He basically built the Texas GOP where there had effctively been none before.  That is my outlook on that. 

The CA GOP is in bad shape, but I do not buy the hype that a conservative cannot win statewide.  Tom McClintock has ran two statewide campaigns, coming within a hair of victory the second time around, and he very well could become Lt. Governor this November.  McClintock is the California Conservative's greatest hope for some level of high profile success.