IT'S TIME TO THROW OUT YOUR 2023 CALENDARS;  IT'S 2024:  Well, not among normal people.  But among political people it really is.  The presidency will be up for grabs, the whole House again, and a third of the Senate.  Republicans have golden opportunities, if they seize them, which means waking up before eleven.

Already the announcements are coming.  From Fox:

Democrat Rep. Katie Porter of California announced Tuesday that she is entering the Golden State's 2024 Senate race.

The announcement comes before Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who has represented California in the Senate since 1992, has made any announcement about whether she will seek re-election in 2024 when her current term expires. 

Feinstein, who at age 89 is the oldest serving senator, is widely expected to announce in the coming months that she won't seek another term in office.

In a clip shared to social media, Porter, who won re-election to her House seat in the November midterm elections, said: "We're living through a time of extraordinary change. I'm Katie Porter. Change can be electrifying and exhilarating, but change can also be disruptive — like the constant assault on our democracy and the dangerous imbalance in our economy."

"The threat from so-called leaders like Mitch McConnell has too often made the United States Senate the place where rights get revoked, special interests get rewarded, and our democracy gets rigged, especially in times like these," she added.

Pointing to herself as a voice for residents in California, Porter said California "needs a warrior in Washington."

"I don't do Congress the way others often do," she claimed in the video message. "I use whatever power I have to speak hard truths to the powers that be — to not just challenge the status quo, but call it out, name names, and demand justice."

Porter represents California's 47th Congressional District, a coastal seat that stretches from Long Beach south into Orange County in the southern part of the state. 

COMMENT:  California is a strongly blue state, and, if Porter gets the Senate nomination, she is likely to get elected.  She's a gut fighter, mostly for the wrong things, and will have far more energy than the clearly aging Feinstein.  A senator representing our most populous state has automatic importance. 

One problem, though:  Porter has a reputation for mistreating her staff – at least that's what some have charged – and that could cloud her prospects.  Voters don't like it, and angry staff members, past and present, can knife a candidate behind the scenes.  I smell blood.

Also, she's a white woman.  The members of the Democratic Party of California are so far to the left they make Joe Stalin look like Mr. Conservative.  The race card can easily be played to deny Porter the nomination.

This will be a nationally important race.

It's 2024.

January 10,  2023