Straw man. As a California resident, I can tell you that no GOP candidate was going to beat Boxer that year. And Carly got more votes than any other GOP statewide candidate in California that year.
She did have a chance in a place where logic doesn’t rule. It is too bad she couldn’t knock boxer off.
But she lost. Maybe she shouldn’t have taken the race on if it was never in play. Isn’t that also part of a leader’s decision making process?