Why a commando raid would not lure out the fleet

Could Japan use a submarine-borne commando raid instead of sending carriers to the American coast?

It could attempt one, but a covert raid lacked the political scale needed to provoke the full American fleet and imposed difficult infiltration requirements.

A viewer proposes commandos as a cheaper way to attack the American mainland. A small submarine-delivered raid would look covert and limited rather than like a challenge demanding the entire fleet. Infiltrators would also have to land undetected, cross a densely populated region around Los Angeles or San Francisco, carry enough explosives, and evade both military and police forces. The carrier fleet's visibility was therefore part of the strategic message: Japan needed the United States to see a major naval force and respond with its own fleet, not merely investigate sabotage.