In a year when Tea Party activists and the GOP are getting a lot of attention, self-described "common sense Democrat" Mickey Kaus is stirring up a little party of his own - challenging U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer in the Democratic primary over illegal immigration and public employee unions' pensions.

"It's clear that the unions own the Democratic party - and it's going to be a disaster unless that changes," says Kaus, 58, a longtime blogger for online magazine Slate.com and author of "The End of Equality," which urges a rethinking of liberalism.

Instead of "chasing after the Latino vote" and pushing for public "card check" elections intended to make it easier for workers to join labor unions, he said his party and Boxer - whom he calls an "old-style pol, through and through" - should deal with issues that affect the everyday lives of working Californians.

"Do the vast majority of Californians want to do away with the secret ballot in union elections? No," he said. "And the huge number of voters here don't want immediate amnesty for undocumented immigrants - until the border is secure."

Kaus' campaign against Boxer, who has been called one of the Senate's most liberal members, is a longshot in blue California. But his bid underscores challenges for California's junior senator.

Poll shows dead heat

With three weeks until the June 8 primary, the latest Rasmussen poll showed Boxer in a 42-41 percent dead heat with GOP challenger Tom Campbell, the former South Bay Congressman. In the poll released Friday, Boxer does only slightly better against two other GOP challengers, former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina and Assemblyman Chuck DeVore of Irvine.

Speaking to reporters last week, Boxer acknowledged the challenges of her re-election effort.

"Will this be a hard race? Oh, my God, yes ... very hard," she said.

Even as President Obama prepares to come to the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco on May 25 to star in the second Boxer fundraiser in a month, the Los Angeles Times delivered a stinging slap when it refused to endorse her in the Democratic Senate primary - saying she "lacks the intellectual firepower" for the job.

Democratic pollster Ben Tulchin says Boxer has always faced tough races, and "her polls have always been under 50 percent every campaign until the end." But he acknowledged that the campaign for the November general election "is going to be Barbara's toughest race since 1992."

'Seat-of-the-pants' bid

Kaus said he launched his uphill, "seat-of-the-pants" bid against Boxer because she's been too lockstep with the party's biggest donors while ignoring its base voters.

A graduate of Harvard Law School who clerked for Judge Stanley Mosk of the California Supreme Court and whose father, Otto Kaus, served on the state's high court, Kaus says he is a loyal Democrat: He likes President Obama's health care reform plan, supports same-sex marriage and is pro-choice and pro-government - including tough environmental regulations.

Kaus says most Democrats don't support efforts to roust millions of illegal immigrants from the United States because the immigrants are "good people who contribute greatly to the state's economy." But, he says, "we just don't want another 12 million" because the costs are too high.

His solutions: aggressive efforts that include extending and strengthening border fences to slow the flow of undocumented immigrants, as well as better electronic checks by employers to send the message of tougher consequences.

Kaus also said the party's allegiance to big unions ignores Californians who are alarmed over the estimated $500 billion shortfall in funding future public employee pensions.

Unions aristocracy

In California, "labor is the new aristocracy - everyone else is sweating away at $10-an-hour jobs while unions have defended their benefits," he said. Public workers unions "are no longer the oppressed class; in a two-tier system, they are the upper tier," he said.

"People realize that the government machine is run for the unions," Kaus said. "The libraries can close, but you can't cut those pensions."

Boxer's campaign manager, Rose Kapolczynski, predicted defeat for the challenger.

"It's a free country, and anyone can run for office, but I'm confident that Sen. Boxer's base remains strong and she will easily win the Democratic primary," Kapolczynski said.

Patrick Dorinson, who writes the cowboylibertarian.com blog, said besting Boxer is near "Mission Impossible," but such messages connect with moderate Democrats and the 1 in 5 state voters who declined to state a political party in their voter registration.

Boxer has "faced an electorate before in good times," he said. "But this time, it's tough times."