A Political Star is Born

Barbara Boxer, apparently confusing her portrayal in an SNL sketch with flattery, will continue to oppose every nominee sent by Bush to the Senate in an effort to gain greater name recognition among the American People.

"There's no such thing as bad publicity!" said the California solon of her strategy to be the lone voice in opposing the first Hispanic Attorney General nominee as well as the first African-American female Secretary of State. "I want to be the new Happy Warrior," comparing herself to the late Hubert Humphrey who led his party to defeat against Richard Nixon in 1968.

That's a weak attempt at parody, but here's what the article really says:

She's being touted on liberal blogs as the Democrats' best hope for president in 2008. Conservatives are excoriating her as � in House Minority Leader Tom DeLay's phrase � the leader of the "'X-Files' wing" of the Democratic Party.

Boxer says she is just standing up for what she believes.

"I've always been this way," she says, "and I'm trying to figure out exactly why people suddenly find this to be interesting, you know. Somehow I have touched something inside people, and I have not ever had this happen before. The only thing I can think, after reading what people said, is a feeling that I'm asking the kind of questions and saying the kind of things that they are feeling."

Maybe she's becoming a spokeswoman, or even a symbol, for voters who oppose the Iraq war or feel shut out by the Bush administration. Maybe, with the Democratic Party at sea after November's election losses, some people sense a leadership void and are looking to her to fill it.

You tell me which sounds more bizarre.

Reminds me of a line from Lou Grant on the old Mary Tyler Moore show: "You have spunk, don't you? I hate spunk."