Boxer-ing Day

Tom Campbell jumped out of the CA governor's race and into the Senate race and is already leading his two rivals for the GOP nomination: Campbell Leads GOP Nomination

Days after jumping into California's U.S. Senate race, moderate Republican Tom Campbell has catapulted into the lead as the top GOP candidate and the strongest potential foe of incumbent Democrat Barbara Boxer, a development that may herald a more competitive race in the Democratic-leaning state, a new Field Poll shows.

Campbell, a former South Bay congressman and dean of UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business - and not a favorite of the state's GOP establishment - received 30 percent support from California voters in the latest statewide Field Poll released today.

That puts Campbell ahead of two Republicans who've been campaigning and fundraising for months - former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, with 25 percent support, and state Assemblyman Chuck Devore, who has 6 percent. Thirty-nine percent of likely GOP voters were undecided.

Campbell does have the benefit of having already run a state-wide Senate race against Dianne Feinstein - and lost. Campbell swears that he is uniquely qualified to address Boxer's shortcomings on economics and her status as the state's most annoying Democrat. That may be, but he's also going to have to be able to match Boxer's fire with some of his own, or there's really no point in getting our hopes up.