Barbara Boxer’s on the Ropes

The junior Senator from California is in a world of hurt. This past weekend, the Los Angeles Times, the most influential, and certainly among the most liberal of West Coast newspapers, took a pass on endorsing Barbara Boxer’s bid for a fourth term in the U.S. Senate. To bolster its conclusion, the Times wrote:

“We find that we're no fans of incumbent Barbara Boxer…she displays less intellectual firepower or leadership than she could.”

Wow. If this doesn’t make it clear that Californians are fed up with Boxer, I am not sure what will.

Boxer is in serious peril of losing her cushy Capitol throne, not that that’s so surprising. Her most recently memorable moment from 18 wasted years in the U.S. Senate was finding fault with a respected Army General for daring to call her Ma’am. California voters are fed up with self-absorbed, cavalier politicians more worried about their perceived status in office than serving their constituents.

These days, Boxer looks more and more like a lightweight than a true contender. She’s like one of those show boxers who builds a cream puff record battling opponents who can’t fight back.

But take her out of her home gym and put her into a real arena, and we’ll see more and more of her fans stop cheering and start booing.

I’ve spent time in the ring, and let me tell you, the one thing you can’t do when you’re on the ropes is call for help. But that’s exactly what Boxer’s done. President Obama has stepped in to help the slap-happy Senator with one fund raiser in Los Angeles, and a second planned for San Francisco.

That’s not the mark of a champ. That’s the sign of a Boxer who’s looked down and realized she’s got feet of clay.