California Conservative looks at yesterday's race for control of California’s 50th congressional seat; where Republican Brian Bilbray prevailed over Democrat Francine Busby. Busby's campaign will be footnoted by this incident, of which RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman says, "gave everyone a boost...Symbols or symbolic statements come to be what a candidate stands for."

It's one thing when your last minute hit comes from outside (for example, the drunk driving charge unearthed against candidate George W. Bush at the very end of the 2000 presidential race, and the daily October surprises from late 2004 the media threw at him, along with the surprise cameo appearance of Osama bin Laden or his Mini Me), but to shoot yourself in the foot in the last minute of a campaign is just idiotic. On the other hand, to paraphrase George Costanza, it's not a gaffe...when you believe it's true.