California Democrats were a somber lot when they met earlier this year in San Jose for their first gathering since the party's drubbing in the recall election that ousted former Gov. Gray Davis. For good reason. Arnold Schwarzenegger and other GOP replacement candidates received almost two-thirds of the vote, even though only about one-third of the electorate is Republican. "We've bounced right back," said Mary Ann Andreas, a Democratic delegate from Banning. And Democrats knew that Schwarzenegger's victory could hurt them in November. Democrats carried California in 1992, 1996 and 2000, but now the party entered an election year with...