• Barbara Boxer,  Carly Fiorina

    CA-Sen: Carly Fiorina Racks Up California Newspaper Endorsements

    California Republican U.S. Senate candidate Carly Fiorina discusses Job Creation and Economic Growth at Town Hall with Latino Business Community in San Diego

    Almost time for choosing and Carly Fiorina has racked up a number of mainstream media newspaper endorsements.

    Los Angeles Daily News

    Fiorina, the famous former Hewlett-Packard CEO, is running against incumbent Barbara Boxer, a longtime pol who, in her almost 28 years in the Senate and Congress, has yet to distinguish herself or the state she represents.

    It’s time for a change. It’s time to give the job to someone else – someone who’s shown in the past that she has the intelligence and the guts to take on a bloated organization, battle the old boys’ club, and make the hard decisions needed to turn the organization around. California and the country absolutely require this kind of change.

    While Fiorina may be a novice to elective office, she certainly understands politics. Fiorina rose from receptionist to become one of the most powerful women in corporate America, and a legend in California’s high-tech boom.

    One of Boxer’s main attacks on Fiorina has been that she cut thousands of jobs as CEO at HP, implying Fiorina only knows how to destroy jobs, rather than create them. In the long run, preserving the business preserves jobs. As any business person knows, a bankrupt company doesn’t equal any jobs at all.

    In many ways, the federal government represents a troubled company teetering on the brink of financial ruin. It has suffered from years of bad decisions based on shortsighted political gains and the infighting of its top managers. It has taken on more debt than it should have and has chosen to ignore the inevitable sinking.

    Indeed, we see Fiorina’s business experience as exactly the right background for the newest senator from California.

    San Diego Union-Tribune

    Given that the observation has been forthcoming from such sources as the editorial pages of the San Francisco Chronicle and Los Angeles Times, it is not a partisan potshot to note that Democrat Barbara Boxer has been ineffective as a California senator. After 18 years in the Senate, Boxer deserves the thanks of Californians for her service, but not re-election. As the Chronicle observed, “There is no reason to believe that another six-year term would bring anything but more of the same uninspired representation.”

    Meanwhile, much more so than with past Boxer Senate opponents, Republican Carly Fiorina offers promise. The former Hewlett-Packard CEO understands the state and national economies in a way that few lawmakers do and her expertise is badly needed as the U.S. slogs through yet another year of high unemployment and weak growth.

    Orange County Register

    Carly Fiorina has the right principles, the experience outside government and possesses the skills to address the most pressing issues facing the state and nation. After 18 years of lackluster representation in the Senate, Californians deserve a change.

    Bakersfield Californian

    Fiorina’s style makes her hard to ignore. She’s confident, engaging and straightforward — strong selling points for that vast middle of the electorate, the independent voter. She inspires strong feelings among more polarized voters on topics from gun rights to immigration to education. We can’t say we agree with every position she has taken, but it’s clear she speaks for many — especially those in the Central Valley.

    Californians need a senator who can provide forceful leadership without being a lightning rod for hyperpartisanship. Fiorina matches that job description best. We recommend her for the U.S. Senate.

    Fresno Bee

    Fiorina has made several trips to the San Joaquin Valley in the campaign. While Boxer has helped the region with legislation, she has not spent a lot of time here during her 18-year career. The Valley is not San Francisco, Los Angeles or Coastal California, and it would have been helpful if Boxer had come here more often for town halls and other meetings with residents.

    There are several issues in which we don’t agree with Fiorina — she would extend tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans, for example. But we support her based on leadership. We believe Fiorina is better prepared to lead in the Senate than the incumbent.

    We urge voters to support Carly Fiorina for U. S. Senate on Nov. 2.

    Also, noteworthy is that the Far Left San Francisco Chronicle has failed to endorse Boxer – nor Fiorina for that matter.

    Looks like the MSM has even had enough of Barbara Boxer.

  • Carly Fiorina,  Rudy Giuliani

    CA-Sen: Rudy Giuliani Coming to Orange County to Campaign for Carly Fiorina

    Rudy Giuliani campaigning for President in Santa Barbara, California September 2007
    Photo By Flap

    Rudy will be campigning for Van Tran as well.

    Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani will visit Orange County on Monday to support Congressional candidate Van Tran and Senate candidate Carly Fiorina – both Republicans running for seats long held by Democrats.

    Giuliani, a former Republican presidential candidate, will appear with Tran and Fiorina at a media-only press conference in Westminster on Monday morning. An announcement issued by the Tran campaign said Giuliani will discuss job creation, fiscal responsibility and the need for stronger leadership in Washington.

    Tran is competing for central Orange County’s seat in Congress against Democrat Loretta Sanchez. Fiorina is challenging Democrat Barbara Boxer for one of California’s seats in the Senate.

    It is crunch time and the GOP will bring out all of the heavy hitters to excite the Republican base. Sarah Palin comes to Anaheim for the RNC next Saturday.

  • Barbara Boxer,  Carly Fiorina

    CA-Sen: NRSC Pumping in Another $ Million to Carly Fiorina Campaign

    Carly Fiorina’s latest television ad, “Day” produced by Fred Davis

    No surprise here with the race within the margin of error of most polls.

    Contrary to Democrats’ hopes and expectations that national Republicans would give up on the California Senate race, the party is stuffing another $1 million of precious cash into Senate candidate Carly Fiorina’s challenge to incumbent Democrat Barbara Boxer.

    National Republican Senatorial committee spokeswoman Amber Marchand said that brings the total to nearly $3 million, proof certain that the GOP thinks Fiorina can win despite Boxer’s lead in the polls.

    Boxer has held a big cash advantage and Fiorina needs all the help she can get to avoid letting Boxer go unchallenged on TV in the final weeks of the race. California is the most expensive state in the nation to run a race because of the necessity of using TV to reach voters.

    It looks like going into the last few weeks of the campaign, Carly Fiorina will be able to nearly match the media campaign of the well-financed Senator Barbara Boxer.

    This race looks like it will turn on the persuasion of the television campaigns and GOTV (Get Out the Vote Efforts).

  • Carly Fiorina,  Sarah Palin

    CA-Sen: Will Sarah Palin’s Endorsement Hurt Carly Fiorina?

    At the Susan B. Anthony List’s Celebration of Life Breakfast on May 14th, Governor Palin took to the stage to talk about the fabulous pro-life women mounting serious campaigns across the country. One such woman: Carly Fiorina running for U.S. Senate in California against pro-abortion activist and EMILY’s List champion, Sen. Barbara Boxer.

    Interesting that this piece showed up at the Politico after I had mentioned it yesterday – twice.

    Carly Fiorina, who is challenging Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer, has frequently touted her endorsement from Palin, but the survey shows Palin may be a drag on Fiorina’s numbers.

    Fifty-three percent of those surveyed said they would be less inclined to vote for a candidate endorsed by Palin, while only 21 percent said they would be more inclined.

    Among those who said they plan to vote in the Senate race, 47 percent of Fiorina supporters said they were more likely to back a candidate because of Palin’s support. But 84 percent of Boxer supporters said they would be less likely to vote for a candidate with Palin’s blessing.

    The Fiorina campaign is not concerned about Palin’s poll numbers. Voters are evaluating the candidates in this race as individuals, said Fiorina spokeswoman Andrea Saul.

    This is just a rehash and a dig at Sarah Palin with a slight swipe at Carly Fiorina. Interesting that The Politico did not parse further into a previous Field Poll that shows that President Obama in deep blue California is not doing so well either.

    In my previous post, I mentioned the polarized California electorate with regards to Sarah Palin and President Obama. However, I subsequently found this graph which parses the data in another form.

    But, I also discovered something mentioned in that piece which I missed. President Obama’s endorsement doesn’t mean so much for candidates either. From the California Field Poll of September 29, 2010: (PDF)

    Most Californians (55%) continue to believe that the country is seriously off on the wrong track, while one in three (34%) feel that the U.S. is headed in the right direction.

    If the President were to endorse a candidate running for political office in this state, 44% say that this would make them more inclined while 40% say this would make them less inclined to support the office seeker.

    These are the findings from the latest Field Poll assessing  California voter opinions about President Obama and the direction the  U.S. is heading. The survey was conducted by telephone in English and Spanish September 14 – 21 among 859 registered voters statewide.

    Sarah Palin on the 16th will rally the GOP base to get out the vote. Does anyone really think this will HURT Carly Fiorina?

    Come on now.

  • Carly Fiorina

    CA-Sen: National Organization for Marriage Runs Spanish-Language Ads for Carly Fiorina

    English Translation:

    Our values make our people special.
    Work. Family. Children.
    Barbara Boxer doesn’t share our values.
    She supports abortion and homosexual marriage…
    …and voted against immigration reform to permit our people to come here legally to work.
    We’ve had enough of her talk.
    Carly Fiorina for US Senate. Our values. Our senator.

    An interesting strategy here with the Pro-Life and Pro-Traditional Marriage organizations joining forces to back Carly Fiorina in Spanish-Language media. Naturally, Hispanic women trend to be Catholic and against abortion and gay marriage. Both positions that Fiorina supports.

    The National Organization for Marriage and a group that supports female candidates who oppose abortion rights are launching Spanish-language television ads this week presenting Carly Fiorina as the candidate who shares the values of Latino voters.

    The Susan B. Anthony List and The National Organization for Marriage, a group that advocates against same-sex marriage, will spend $200,000 on ads that will air on Telemundo, Telefutura and Univision in the Fresno, Los Angeles and San Diego markets beginning Wednesday.

    Meg Whitmans’ problems with her Hispanic maid may have opened up opportunities for Carly to talk directly to Latino women who share her views on family and marriage.

  • Barbara Boxer,  Carly Fiorina

    CA-Sen Poll Watch: Barbara Boxer 49% Vs. Carly Fiorina 45% – Race a Toss-Up

    fiorinaboxerb CA Sen Field Poll Watch: Barbara Boxer 47% Vs. Carly Fiorina 41%

    Republican Nominee Carly Fiorina and California Democrat Senator Barbara Boxer

    So says the latest Rasmussen Poll.

    Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer’s bid for reelection in California against Republican challenger Carly Fiorina is once again a toss-up.

    The latest Rasmussen Reports statewide telephone survey of Likely Voters shows Boxer picking up 49% of the vote, her highest level of support since mid-July. Fiorina earns 45% support. Two percent (2%) prefer some other candidate, and five percent (5%) are undecided.

    Two weeks ago, Boxer held a similar four-point edge – 47% to 43% – over Fiorina, the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard. In surveys since February, Boxer, a member of the Senate since 1993, has earned 42% to 49% of the vote. Fiorina has picked up 38% to 48% support in those same surveys.
     
    The latest numbers move this race from Leans Democrat to Toss-Up in the Rasmussen Reports Election 2010 Senate Balance of Power rankings.

    The survey of 750 Likely Voters in California was conducted on October 3, 2010 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 4 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.

    The fact that Carly Fiorina is this close after two weeks of statewide negative ads by Boxer gives her hope in this race. Fiorina’s statewide television ad campaign is just beginning and although early voting started yesterday in California there is plenty of time.

    I will stick to my prediction that this race will come down to last minute television and on the ground GOTV.

  • Barbara Boxer,  Carly Fiorina,  Fred_Davis

    CA-Sen Video: Carly Fiorina Launches New Television Ad “Day” in Conjunction with the NRSC

    Latest Carly Fiorina Television Ad in conjunction with the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC)

    The Carly Fioirna U.S. Senate media campaign is now in full swing. A week late in my opinion. but since last week would have been lost in the Meg Whitman illegal alien maid controversy, it is probably just as well to start now.

    From the press release:

     U.S. Senate candidate Carly Fiorina, in conjunction with the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), today launched the second television advertisement of the general election campaign, “Day.” The 30-second ad will run statewide and represents the campaign’s first coordinated expenditure with the NRSC.

    “California cannot afford another six years of Barbara Boxer’s ineffective leadership and bitter partisanship, which have resulted in trillions of dollars in wasteful spending and millions of out-of-work Californians. Boxer’s California is a California with little hope for the future,” said Carly for California Campaign Manager Marty Wilson. “This advertisement represents our campaign’s ongoing effort to shine a spotlight on Boxer’s 28 years of failure in Washington. And as voters continue to be reminded of Boxer’s dismal, long tenure, they will turn instead to Carly Fiorina who has a record of delivering and who will bring to Washington a focus on economic recovery and job creation.”

    “For the last 28 years, millionaire Senator Barbara Boxer fought for higher taxes, bigger government, and more spending in Washington instead of standing up for the families, seniors, and job creators who are struggling to make ends meet in her state. This November, the NRSC is confident that Carly Fiorina’s candidacy represents a real opportunity to end Senator Boxer’s disastrous career and to finally bring real change to Washington,” said NRSC Executive Director Rob Jesmer.

    This is an obvious Fred Davis television ad creation from the graphics to narration. Davis has had remarkable success in California and will have to work his persuasion magic since Carly Fiorina trails Barbara Boxer in the latest polls.

    Early voting starts today in California, absentee ballots will be in the mail and the election will be held on November 2nd.

  • Barbara Boxer,  Carly Fiorina,  Joe Biden

    CA-Sen Video: Carly Fiorina Welcomes VP “Slow Joe” Biden to California

    The latest web video from the Carly Fiorina Campaign, “Political Point”

    A hearty welcome to “Slow Joe” Plagiarizing Biden, Vice President of the United States to the big OC (Orange County, California). He is town to raise money for Senator Barbara Boxer who is in a tight race against Republican Carly Fiorina.

    Fiorina’s campaign has released a web video, “Political Point,” that reminds Biden that Boxer voted against the 2007 bill that included funding for body armor and brain trauma treatment for the troops. It includes a clip of Biden railing against those who voted against the bill to score “political points.” “There’s no political point worth my son’s life. There’s no political point worth anybody’s life out there,” Biden argued.

    It is noteworthy that President Obama has not shown his face in the Republican enclaves of Southern California where he is extremely unpopular. As far as Biden is concerned, he is forced to come to very blue California to raise money for an entrenched Senator who remains vulnerable.

    Does this say anything about how badly the Democrats trail presently and will do on November 2nd?

  • Barbara Boxer,  Carly Fiorina

    CA-Sen: Carly Fiorina, Outsourcing and the 21st-Century Economy

    Democrat Senator Barbara Boxer latest television ad attacking Carly Fiorina

    Carly Fiorina has been relentlessly taking a hit the past two weeks in a blistering television ad shown above. But, is it fair to criticize Fiorina for a common 21st-Century business practice?

    Probably not and this Wall Street Journal piece explains.

    It’s campaign season, so “outsourcing” is being used as a four-letter word. The practice of hiring workers overseas to handle certain functions of American corporations is, according to some politicians, a major cause of our ongoing economic woes.

    Sen. Barbara Boxer (D., Calif.) has slammed her opponent, Carly Fiorina, for outsourcing jobs when she served as CEO of Hewlett-Packard. Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland has attacked his Republican opponent, John Kasich, for serving on the board of a company that outsources. And other politicians from Pennsylvania to Oregon have tried to use the issue to stir up voter dissatisfaction with the economy.

    The Democratic leadership in the Senate has also used outsourcing as a political football. This week, three days before the projected close of the 111th Congress, Democrats brought a bill to the floor that would penalize companies that outsource. The Creating American Jobs and Ending Offshoring Act was intended to provide a payroll tax holiday to companies that shift overseas jobs back to the United States. It would also have limited the use of tax deferrals that allow U.S. companies to postpone paying taxes on foreign income until after the funds are transferred to the U.S.

    The bill never received an up-or-down vote, as it failed to receive the 60 votes necessary for cloture. But merely by bringing it up, Senate Democrats showed their preference for campaign-season symbolism over serious recognition of why companies choose to outsource.

    Companies outsource for two reasons. The first centers on the nature of the global economy. In today’s world, outsourcing can save companies money, reduce the time it takes to deliver products and services to customers, and provide access to skilled employees unavailable in the U.S. Outsourcing also allows companies to capitalize on incentives offered by foreign governments to attract investment. Outsourcing is here to stay for companies hoping to remain internationally competitive.

    The second reason U.S. companies outsource is that our own government pursues policies that drive investment and job creation offshore: excessive taxes, needless regulations, lengthy permit processes, a decreasing supply of U.S. citizens with technical and engineering degrees, and a general governmental misunderstanding of how to support private-sector jobs. For example, taxing new U.S. corporate investment at 35%—when the world average is just over 18%—pushes U.S. companies to invest offshore to increase return to shareholders.

    While the U.S. government takes this harmful approach, foreign governments comprehend as never before what it takes to attract businesses and allow them to thrive. Many learned invaluable free-market lessons from the U.S. Now those same lessons are being lost on our own leaders.

    Had the recently defeated Senate bill become law, job losses would have accelerated. The U.S. government once again would have misunderstood how jobs are created and caused even more companies to relocate jobs overseas.

    Politicians may want to prey on the apprehension of voters during these anxious days, but condemning U.S. companies that outsource will come back to haunt them. Politicians’ formulas for recovery are reminiscent of the days of the Great Depression, when erecting trade barriers through the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act appeared the common-sense way to protect American jobs. It wasn’t. After the tariff, GDP fell by half, the jobless rate more than tripled, and the U.S. economy plummeted.

    While outsourcing is a modern fact of life—many leading U.S. companies now do over 50% of their business outside the domestic market—it doesn’t have to become the default path just because the U.S. government is pushing American companies into more competitive foreign lands.

    Politicians who accuse the business community of being solely responsible for the loss of U.S. jobs are disingenuous at best. They need to look at their own contributions to U.S. joblessness—and recognize the competitive nature of the 21st-century world economy.

    Mr. Barrett is the former CEO and chairman of Intel. Mr. Moore is a former U.S. assistant secretary of commerce for trade development.

    California voters should remember that as CEO of Hewlett-Packard, Carly Fiorina’s fiduciary duty was to earn MONEY for the corporation. This is private enterprise. If the American government wants to keep jobs in the United States they have that opportunity by passing pro-growth legislation.

    But, Senator Barbara Boxer who has sponsored NO meaningful legislation in her decades in the U.S. Senate is being more than disingenuous in this anti-Fiorina television ad. Like a Boxer Vs. Fiorina debate moderator said yesterday:

    Senator, excuse me. Ms. Fiorina is not running for the head of HP right now. She is running for the Senate and there is a big difference between running a company, where you have to make those choices, and running the government.” (Gabriel Lerner, KPCC U.S. Senate Debate, 9/29/10)