We all play the game...even those of us who may at times claim otherwise...

Many view the very liberal Barbara Boxer (D-California) as being vulnerable in the Fall of 2004, and Republian strategists are working overtime, and rightfully so, to find the right and proper candidate to defeat Boxer and help solidify the GOP hold on the Senate. Two Republicans whose names top the short list (and forget all about Arnold the Terminator, btw) are former governor Pete Wilson and U.S. Treasurer Rosario Marin. Now I think you folks know enough about California, and national, demographics to see where this is headed...

Yes, top GOP strategists are indeed heavily promoting Rosario Marin, despite her relative lack of political experience, as they view the female and Hispanic voting constituencies, and crunch the numbers in California. The Mexican-born, female Hispanic rising Republican star is unquestionably benefiting from a form of "affirmative action' in the political calculus within the GOP. And nationally she's viewed as a key player in Republican efforts to win more Hispanic support.

But this does not mean at all that she's not qualified for the position. She certainly is. But is she the most qualified Republican in California? Or just the one qualified Republican who has the best prospects of ousting Boxer? What would Pete Wilson say about that?

There's one school of thought in moderate Republican circles, perhaps led by Colin Powell, that promotes affirmative action not based upon racial preferences among all possible candidates but rather strives for overall diversity from among the qualified pool of candidates. There's a minimum threshold that determines qualification, and "qualified" means "qualified enough". In other words, there's not necessarily a "best" qualified candidate, or at least no reliable objective criteria for determining that. In practical, real-life situations, and in the business world, this actually makes a whole lot of sense. If you're a business manager conducting interviews, and you have to choose from among two candidates, both of whom appear to meet a minimum qualification standard for the job, would you choose the one who had higher grades/test scores but appeared a bit nerdy and one-dimensional, or the other one who appeared a bit more well-rounded and had better communication skills?

Oh, I almost forgot - Rosario Marin resigned last week and headed back to California...