California's Crazy Primary

From Antonovich to Zschau, this one offers a bit of everything

Pity poor Ed Zschau. A Republican candidate for the Senate, he yearns to meet the voters and debate the issues. But instead, he finds himself spending $2.1 million teaching Californians to pronounce his name. (Try shout without the t.) This campaign, in a state as vast and variegated as California, must be waged in 60-second television ads, which must be fueled by endless fund raisers. As Zschau explains, between bites of an airport snack shop's meatball sandwich, "You simply can't shake enough hands and kiss enough babies to get elected in this state."

That is probably just as well, because the...

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