“Why would she stay in CA and run again? AS IF any R is going to win statewide out there in the foreseeable future. Why would she waste her time and money like that?”
That makes no sense as an argument for not running given that she did run and all the same things applied to that run.
Using your logic, why would she have run in 2010 in the first place?
In 2010 there was still some thought that a R could win in CA. Both Fiorina and Whitman would have had a good shot in “old CA.” Not today’s CA. Different demographic now. “All the same things that applied to that run” wouldn’t apply to another run in the foreseeable future.