Dan Walters: Boxer shaky again as campaign looms

Sacramento Bee ^ | 8/10/9 | Dan Walters

[SmithL]

California's U.S. senators tend to fall into two categories – headline-grabbers and dependable workhorses for the state's interests.

For the past 17 years, the state's two senators have been Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer. Both elected during the much-heralded "year of the woman," they have followed the state's time-honored pattern.

Boxer draws media attention with her quixotic political forays, often involving some left-of-center cause having nothing to do with California, while Feinstein is the go-to person for the state's economic and political interests.

It explains why voter polls consistently find that Feinstein is among the state's highest-rated political figures while Boxer's popularity swings with the tides and rarely reaches beyond the magic 50 percent level.

Every six years, Republicans believe that with just the right candidate and just the right amount of money, they can knock off the woman they love to hate. And they are heartened again by a new poll showing Boxer barely leading the most likely 2010 challenger, former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina.

The Rasmussen Reports poll found that 45 percent of California voters support Boxer's re-election, with Fiorina at 41 percent and 7 percent undecided, much closer than a March poll. Fiorina isn't a declared candidate yet and also would have to defeat Chuck DeVore, a very conservative Republican legislator, for the GOP nomination.

[fifedom]

Also, Fiorina was part of the ‘brain-dead’ trust on the McLame campaign along with Meg Whitman. I am sick of trying to win with RINOs. We tried Bill Jones last time and he quit campaigning a couple of months before the election when he found out he could make more money as a consultant than as Senator. Chuck Devore is an attractive candidate who can give Babs a run. Check out his website and send him some bucks.

[fifedom]

Actually, her first ploy will be abortion. The Dems made abortion an issue when Tom McClintock was running for State Controller. The controller is the State’s chief bean counter and has nothing to do with abortion. D*mn that was a heart-breaker, he lost by a few thousand votes to that empty suit Steve Westly after the state Republican Party refused to give money to his campaign.

[ExTexasRedhead]

I think her term is up; pray it’s up forever.

[ExTexasRedhead]

I think her term is up; pray it’s up forever.

[Vigilanteman]

Yeah, I remember that they were seriously floating Fiorina's name as a possible VP candidate. Where do they come up with this sh*t?

If they have to pick a RINO, they could at least pick one like Arnold or Romney who've actually shown they can be competent in the private sector.

[T Lady]

BTTT

[Always Independent]

I’ve said it before, I’d vote for a paper bag with a face drawn on it before I vote for that disgusting piece of trash. Its time for someone from SOCAL to go after her. Its been too long for us to go without representation in the senate. I may be wrong but I think they passed the open primary system here or it was part of one of the propositions that needed to be passed.

[Kenny Bunk]

Feinstein is a down-the-line liberal hack, but Boxer is so stupid she makes Feinstein look like Einstein in comparison.

Not also does Mrs. Boxer make Feinstein seem intelligent in comparison, she also makes Feinstein look like a moderate, when both are equally radical leftists. These are vital tasks! My question to my many CA friends and former neighbors, "How come no one ever looks at Mr. Feinstein and Mr. Boxer?"

Both of these fellows, and Mr. Pelosi, too, have become billionaires during their wives' tenure. Feinstein, in particular, had a really sweet racket: buying up private property, and seized properties, and then selling them back to the state at obscene profit for use as "Green Belts,"" park lands, and funny you should notice, but always keeping prime parcels on the perimeter for development. I believe the technical real estate term for this is "Pelosi-on-the-Praesidio-Perimeter."

[phillyfanatic]

Babs lied about Bruce Hersh. and she won. Hopefully, thinking Dems will finally get rid of this socialist pacifist liberal. But, I would not bet on it. Living here in the Soviet Republic of Ca., there are too many safe Dem districts.