Ever since the demographic composition of California was transformed by the infusion of millions of Hispanics and the driving out of middle- and upper-middle-class residents (of any race) through high taxes, the state has been a Democrat stronghold – a sure win for the Electoral College and Senate.

Could that possibly change?

The announced retirement of Senator Barbara Boxer has created an open seat, and there has been much glee among progressives over the prospect of the dimwitted but vicious Boxer being succeeded by the photogenic and much smarter attorney general of California, Kamala Harris, who has been dubbed “The next Barack Obama.”

What could possibly derail this progressive dream?  Joel Pollak writes at Breitbart:

The leader in the race to replace retiring U.S. Senator Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA)  in America’s most liberal state is… Republican Condoleezza Rice, according to a new Field Poll released Wednesday. Rice, the former Secretary of State and Stanford don, is backed by 49% of voters–ahead of Attorney General Kamala Harris, the liberal Democrat who was the first to declare.

The poll, which sampled 972 likely voters in California, presented respondents with a list of 18 potential candidates and asked if they “would be inclined or not inclined to vote for that person,” with no limit on the number they could support. Rice led among both male and female voters, and did well among Latino voters, though the top choice for Latinos remains former Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Rice and Harris each polled 74% among their respective political parties.

The only problem is persuading Rice to run.  She enjoys multiple appointments at Stanford University, which is a much pleasanter place to spend time than Washington, D.C.  And Democrats in California have been known to run particularly vicious statewide campaigns against Republican challengers, such as the attacks on Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina when they ran for statewide office.  Rice has kept her private life quite private, and I have no doubt that Democrats would stoop as low as they had to in order to damage her in a fight for the Senate seat they regard as belonging to them.