Thread: Calif. Sen. Boxer finds rocky re-election terrain

Calif. Sen. Boxer finds rocky re-election terrain
By Michael R. Blood, Ap Political Writer 1 hr 25 mins ago

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. – Hints of re-election trouble for U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer come from a 65-year-old travel agent from this leafy Los Angeles suburb who's a fellow Democrat.

To Helen Sargent, taxes and the national debt are too high, President Barack Obama has proved a disappointment and the Democratic Party needs new faces.

Boxer, who's seeking a fourth term this fall, "has been there too long," Sargent said. "All politicians have a shelf life."

Those are troubling words for Boxer, who won in a 20-point landslide six years ago but now faces the fight of her political career. The nation's economic woes — particularly intense in hard-hit California — and a difficult electoral year for Democrats have created a rough challenge for the 69-year-old liberal Democrat.

Boxer carried Westlake Village by 56 votes in 2004. She's quick to acknowledge the times have changed.

"It's going to be hard. It's going to be tough. I've said that from day one," Boxer told reporters in Los Angeles on Saturday.

In a clear sign of her difficulties, President Barack Obama heads to Los Angeles on Monday to help raise money for Boxer, who is running about even with several potential Republican challengers, an alarming sign in the Democratic-leaning state.

The proceeds from twin fundraisers will be split between Boxer and the Democratic National Committee; ticket prices range from $100 for a reception to $17,600 for dinner with the president.

Voter frustration and outright anger is widespread in California, where the 12.6 percent unemployment rate tops the national average, home foreclosures have hit record highs and a budget crunch has led to deep cuts in the state's college system.

In another Democratic-leaning state — Massachusetts — Republican Scott Brown captured Sen. Edward Kennedy's Senate seat in January.

"The times are working against the kind of politician Barbara Boxer is," said Mark DiCamillo of the independent Field Poll. Liberals are associated with the growth of government and "that is really counter to the prevailing mood in the public."

Boxer will share a stage with a president whose popularity outshines her own in California, even as his standing in national polls has fallen. Democrats also are quick to point out that the economy is slowly improving and Republicans are tangled up in a messy and expensive primary that could leave the nominee wounded and broke. Boxer faces only token opposition in the June 8 primary.

Westlake Village, about 40 miles from downtown Los Angeles, is the kind of swing-voting community where statewide elections are often won or lost in California. Republicans hold an edge in registration here but Obama carried the city in 2008, as did Boxer in 2004.

Boxer is as beloved by her party's left wing as she is despised by conservatives.

Her Republican rivals — state Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, businesswoman Carly Fiorina and former Rep. Tom Campbell — have pilloried her relentlessly. Fiorina's campaign calls Boxer "the Bully of the Senate" and has depicted her in an ad as a floating hot air balloon casting ominous shadows over the state.

Boxer said Saturday that voters will have a clear choice in November, and that she considers the health care overhaul and green energy winning issues in the state. "The question here is who is on the side of the people of California," she said.

Random interviews with voters underscore Boxer's problems.

Sitting outside the library Thursday, Lillian FitzGerald Burns had some advice for those who think the nation is in a rut. "Change," she said, "takes time." But asked about Boxer, the sprightly 82-year-old independent said her patience is running out.

Boxer "hasn't made a significant contribution to the efforts to unscramble the problems that we inherited," says FitzGerald Burns, who voted for Obama in 2008. Asked to name any issue that she associates with the senator's work in Washington, she paused and stared blankly.

"I can't."

Polls aside, Boxer comes to the race with built-in advantages.

Democrats hold a registration edge of 2.3 million in a state with 17 million voters; Boxer captured nearly 7 million votes in 2004. The last Republican to carry the state in a presidential election was George H.W. Bush more than two decades ago. Democrats control the Legislature, hold an edge in the congressional delegation and have held both U.S. Senate seats since the 1990s.

Boxer's campaign has $8.7 million in the bank, far more than any potential rival.

But like many incumbents, Boxer is paying a price. The mortgage crisis turned new developments into ghost towns, and the state's unemployment rate hit a modern record in March. The number of residents fleeing the state has outstripped those coming in, and illegal immigration remains an unresolved problem.

There is a budding tea party movement eager to shake up Washington, and voter surveys suggest those voters tilt Republican. An independent Field Poll last month found Boxer running about even with DeVore, Fiorina and Campbell.

More troubling: More than half the state's independents, the swing voters, have an unfavorable opinion of the senator.

Boxer "is part of the political system that wants to grow the government," says John Millrany, 71, a semi-retired public relations executive and political independent who once was a Democratic Party volunteer.

"I think the government is growing too large," he said outside the library. "The entitlements and the taxes are bound to go up."

___

On the Net: Boxer's site: http://boxer.senate.gov/



http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100417/...xpZnNlbmJveGU-

Boxer long ago lost touch with the very people she claims to be for and of... her cameo appearance on Curb Your Enthusiasm -- something her handlers probably thought bolstered her appeal -- only underscored how vapid she truly is; and the self-important Boxer really turned a corner when she got snippy with a highly decorated officer.

See also http://www.bigbigforums.com/news-inf...herself-4.html

I am on the fence over term limits. It would be a shame for someone that is actually doing a decent job to have to leave office due to this reason. But, it would be awesome in order to get rid of the users and abusers.

Obama says Boxer could lose if Dems don't work
By Erica Werner, Associated Press Writer 6 mins ago

LOS ANGELES – President Barack Obama delivered Democrat-friendly California a stark message Monday: Liberal Sen. Barbara Boxer might lose her re-election race if her supporters don't work hard.

The president's stern words in a state where he remains popular and Boxer won her last re-election race in a rout underscored the perilous political environment confronting all Democrats in this midterm election year — and showed Obama is all too aware of the dangers.

"I don't want anyone here taking this for granted," he said at a reception at the California Science Center, the first of a trio of fundraisers Monday night for Boxer and the Democratic National Committee.

"Unless she's got that support she might not win this thing, and I don't think that's an acceptable outcome. So I want everyone to work hard," the president said.

All incumbents face an uphill battle because of the economy, Obama said, though he insisted it's turning around.

At the second event Obama faced a handful of hecklers demanding to know what he was going to do to get rid of the "don't ask don't tell" policy that prevents gays from serving openly in the military. The heckling grew so insistent that Obama responded, saying that he and Boxer supported overturning the policy.

"So I don't know why you're hollering," Obama said, telling them to yell at people who oppose lifting the ban.

Their shouts were drowned out by cries of "Yes we can! Yes we can!" from others in the crowd.

Obama also used the fundraisers to make a pitch for the financial regulation overhaul legislation awaiting action in the Senate, saying it was necessary to rein in Wall Street and attacking Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell by name for opposing the bill. Obama plans a speech on the issue Thursday in New York.

Boxer herself, who's seeking a fourth term, referenced the perceived enthusiasm gap between the Democratic base and the revved-up tea party movement — which is supporting one of her Republican opponents, state Assemblyman Chuck DeVore — and said her supporters had to battle back.

"Are you ready to go toe to toe to them, cup by cup by cup? Because I am," Boxer said. "We're in a run for our life. We're all being tested now. The times are testing us."

The events were expected to raise between $3 million and $3.5 million for the senator and the DNC, with ticket prices ranging from $100 for a reception to $17,600 for dinner with the president. Two events were at the California Science Center and the dinner took place at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles.

They were among Obama's first appearances on behalf of a candidate since his health care overhaul passed Congress last month.

An independent Field Poll last month found Boxer running about even with the three Republicans who are competing for the nomination in the state's June 8 primary; she has only token primary opposition.

Even so, most analysts give Boxer the advantage, especially compared with some other Senate Democratic candidates or seriously endangered incumbents such as moderate Blanche Lincoln in Arkansas. But whereas Obama might not be welcome in conservative Arkansas, he was cheered in California, where he remains popular — far more popular, in fact, than Boxer.

His approval rating stood at 52 percent in a Field Poll last month. By contrast Boxer was viewed favorably by only 38 percent of California voters.

And unlike in other parts of the country, both Obama and Boxer could benefit from passage of the health care law. A Los Angeles Times/University of Southern California poll this month said California voters have a generally positive view of the health care bill. Forty-six percent said they would be more likely to vote for a lawmaker who supported the bill compared with 29 percent who said they would not be.

In addition to DeVore, Boxer's Republican rivals are businesswoman Carly Fiorina and former Rep. Tom Campbell.

In a conference call with reporters Monday, Fiorina said Obama is on a "rescue mission" to save Boxer when the state's troubled economy needs help.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100420/...1hc2F5c2JveA--

Obama clashes with gay rights hecklers in L.A.
23 mins ago

President Obama is used to hearing his name yelled angrily at conservative Tea Party protests. On Monday night, however, he faced hecklers at a more unlikely venue: a Democratic fundraiser in Los Angeles for California Sen. Barbara Boxer.

And yes, the hecklers were attacking the president from the left. "Repeal 'don't ask, don't tell'!" the protesters yelled, referring to the 1993 military policy that bans gays and lesbians from openly serving. Obama responded, "We are going to do that; hey, hold on a second, hold on a second."

The protesters then began chanting Obama's signature campaign chant: "Yes we can! Yes we can! Yes we can!" You can watch the outburst — and Obama's replies — here:
http://news.yahoo.com/video/us-15749625/19229254

During the 2008 campaign, Obama repeatedly pledged to kill the controversial policy, and in January's State of the Union address, he reiterated that vow. But progress has been slow. The administration claims that's because a full repeal would require a separate bill in Congress repudiating the congressionally approved 1993 law — and it's been hard to work such a bill into an already overcrowded Capitol Hill agenda. In March, the Pentagon announced it was relaxing enforcement of the ban, to clear the path for eventual repeal.

Obama returned to the issue of repeal in his Monday speech. "When you've got an ally like Barbara Boxer and you've got an ally like me who are standing for the same thing, then you don't know exactly why you've got to holler, because we already hear you, all right," Obama remarked to applause. "I mean, it would have made more sense to holler that at the people who oppose it."

But the hollering didn't let up. "It's time for equality for all Americans," shouted one. Obama again stressed his opposition to the ban, and again said, "I don't know why you're hollering." The group broke into another "Yes we can!" chant.

Obama then sought to return to the event's main theme: Boxer's re-election. Sen. Boxer "didn't even vote for 'don't ask, don't tell' in the first place," the president noted. "So you know she's going to be in favor of repealing 'don't ask, don't tell.' "

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/ynews_...Jlc2lkZW50b2Jh

Is Boxer Inciting Violence Against Tea Party Protesters?

A couple of interesting bits in an LA Times item on Boxer and Obama doing some fundraising. They note that Democrats criticized Bush for such efforts, but as with playing golf, Obama is actually doing it more often. And I worry that Boxer is inciting violence by calling on her supporters to go toe to toe with Tea Party folks. Don't you? http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la...,5906194.story

"Speaking of the ‘tea party' people, I think it's great that they are active and excited and ready to go," she said. "My question to you is are you ready to go toe-to-toe with them, cup by cup by cup? I am."

Obama's trip was denounced by Republicans, who faulted him for meeting with wealthy supporters but not holding a single public event for the state's residents, who have been hit hard by the recession. California's unemployment rate rose slightly, to 12.6% in March.

Carly Fiorina, one of the Republicans competing to challenge Boxer in the fall, called on the DNC to reimburse taxpayer money spent on travel costs for the president and his staff.

"To fly out here on the taxpayers' dime and not be willing to face the voters of California, I think, is outrageous," she said.

This is the second trip to California in which Obama has taken Air Force One to attend a fundraiser with no official business on his schedule. The other was a trip last fall to San Francisco. A Democratic Party official said "the DNC and the Boxer campaign will pay travel costs as legally required."

Obama's fundraising pace has already exceeded that of George W. Bush, who was criticized by Democrats for the amount of time he spent raising money for campaigns.

Air Force One landed at Los Angeles International Airport in the late afternoon, and the president was flown by helicopter to Exposition Park, where he and Boxer spoke at two receptions at the science center. Donors paid between $100 and $2,500 to attend the events, which featured entertainment by soul singer India Arie. The least-expensive tickets were earmarked for young party activists.

Boxer called on Democrats to be as energetic and enthusiastic as "tea party" supporters.

"We've got three opponents in this race and they've been beating up on me every single day," she said, never criticizing her GOP rivals by name. "You know it."

http://www.riehlworldview.com/carniv...rotesters.html

Is Barbara Boxer in serious trouble in California?
By Holly Bailey holly Bailey – 2 hrs 34 mins ago
California Sen. Barbara Boxer is quickly becoming one of the Democrats’ most vulnerable incumbents ahead of the November midterms. A new Field Poll finds Boxer narrowly leading former Hewlett-Packard chief Carly Fiorina in her bid for re-election, 47 percent to 44 percent. That’s slightly up from the last Field survey in March, when the Boxer led by just a point, but it’s a huge downward lurch from the 15-point lead Boxer held in the race in January.

A year ago, Boxer had been considered a safe bet for re-election. But she’s now facing many of the same difficulties that are dogging her colleague Harry Reid in his re-election campaign in Nevada: Voters are increasingly unhappy with her job performance, and personally, they don’t like her.


Boxer’s likability ratings have dropped 9 points since January. Just 41 percent of Golden State voters say they have a favorable opinion of her, compared to 52 percent in the unfavorable camp. Perhaps most unnerving for Boxer, however is her job approval numbers. Only 42 percent of likely voters approve of the job she’s doing — the lowest rating Boxer has received since she was first elected to the Senate in 1992. By comparison, her approval was 48 percent in January. According to the poll, 48 percent now disapprove of her job performance, while 10 percent are undecided.

One plus for Boxer is that she leads her GOP challenger among self-described moderates, 53 percent to 34 percent — a swing vote group that Fiorina desperately needs to win to overcome the huge advantage in voter registration that Democrats hold in the state. Boxer also holds double-digit leads among three major ethnic groups, Latinos, Asian Americans and African-Americans — collectively a third of the state’s voting population. She also leads among women.

Yet Boxer faces at least one major disadvantage compared with her previous elections: There’s no race at the top of the ticket driving turnout. In 1992 and 2004, she ran during presidential election years, and in 1998, her campaign got traction from the huge turnout in the state’s gubernatorial race. Even with an open gubernatorial race in California this year, there's been no discernible spike in voter enthusiasm for the 2010 cycle. Polls in California reflect the overall trend that voter surveys show nationally: Republicans are much more excited about the November midterms than Democrats are.

Boxer is hoping to turn that momentum around. She’s campaigning with Vice President Joe Biden in the state Thursday; and President Obama, who has appeared on her behalf three times so far this cycle, will probably visit again before November.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot...FyYmFyYWJveA--

The ends justify the means.

-- Raise taxes on small business owners, high-income earners, and job creators. Put the entire burden on only the top 20 percent of taxpayers, redistribute the income, punish success, and reward those who did nothing to deserve it (except vote for Obama). Reagan wanted to dramatically cut taxes in order to starve the government. Obama wants to dramatically raise taxes to starve his political opposition.

With the acts outlined above, Obama and his regime have created a vast and rapidly expanding constituency of voters dependent on big government; a vast privileged class of public employees who work for big government; and a government dedicated to destroying capitalism and installing themselves as socialist rulers by overwhelming the system.

Add it up and you've got the perfect Marxist scheme -- all devised by my Columbia University college classmate Barack Obama using the Cloward and Piven Plan.

Boxer is no exception to this idealology.

Boxer vs. Fiorina: California Senate Race a Dead Heat
Kevin O'leary / Los Angeles – Wed Sep 1, 5:20 pm ET

If Republicans want to take back the Senate, they will have to defeat embattled Democratic veterans - and in California that would be three-time incumbent Barbara Boxer. To challenge one of the most liberal of Senators, the GOP has the high-octane former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina. Both candidates abhor the mushy political center. But victory, as is often the case, depends on independent voters. If Fiorina is to claim one of the nation's bluest states, she must win over independents, who have more or less supported Boxer in the past. That may just be happening. A new Rasmussen poll shows the race is a dead heat (Boxer 45% to Fiorina 44%) among likely voters. In early August, Boxer led by 5 points. Independents make up a quarter of the electorate; now, they will have to choose between two ideologues. Boxer campaign manager Rose Kapolc***ski says voters have a clear choice, "These are two articulate, passionate women who agree on almost nothing."

Fiorina has the advantage of an anti-incumbency mood that has been enhanced by the Golden State's alarming 12.3% unemployment rate. At the recent state GOP convention in San Diego, Fiorina offered a slashing indictment of Boxer, blaming the Democrats for the economic disaster. "In our beautiful state, there is a steady, grinding injustice where the failed policies of Washington's ruling class have smothered hopes in the lives of hundreds of thousands of people - losing jobs, losing homes, destroying businesses." (See the 10 races that have Republicans worried for 2010.)

That has been the Fiorina camp's main mantra. Marty Wilson, Fiorina's campaign manager, insists the election will be decided on the economy, pure and simple. Kapolc***ski, however, sees the race as a choice between Boxer and Fiorina. "In the end, the election is not a referendum on the economy but a choice between two people. When voters learn the clear differences between Boxer and Fiorina on jobs, choice and the environment, they'll choose Boxer." The candidates will meet in their only scheduled television debate Wednesday night.

Boxer has her own line on the economy, touting what she's done for it - including funneling federal funds to California's growing clean-energy sector and championing Los Angeles' bid for transit construction. But she also highlights her rival's sharp conservative positions on abortion, offshore drilling, immigration and climate change. "You have to go back the 1960s to find a California Senate candidate who ran on an anti-choice platform and was for opening up California to offshore drilling," says Kapolc***ski. "Fiorina is out of step on those two issues." (See an interview with Barbara Boxer.)

Boxer has another opening against Fiorina on immigration. The harsh new anti-immigration law in Arizona splits California's voters with 49% favoring and 45% opposing, but is overwhelmingly opposed by Latinos - a key swing group. While gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman has recently moderated her tough stance on illegal immigration in a bid to woo Latino votes, Fiorina stands firm.

Fiorina keeps her main message focused on job creation and economic growth. "We need a U.S. Senator who will fight for our nation's job creators and champion policies that make it easier - not harder - for them to grow, succeed and hire our fellow Americans." But if the stagnant job market hangs like a noose around Boxer's neck, Fiorina's mixed record leading HP tarnishes her economic message. Fired after the questionable merger with Compaq, a 50% plunge in HP's stock price and disputes with the board of directors, Fiorina can hardly brag about job creation as CEO. She laid off more than 25,000 workers and outsourced thousands of jobs overseas. (See why HP dropped Fiorina.)

Fiorina's candidacy reveals the classic GOP conundrum in California. Moderates rarely win the nomination; but conservatives get tagged as extremists in the general election. In the GOP primary, Fiorina castigated her opponent, former House member Tom Campbell, as a RINO (Republican in name only), releasing a bizarre but effective campaign ad portraying Campbell as a demon sheep - a liberal wolf among the conservative flock. But Fiorina's camp doesn't believe her strong conservative positions on social issues and climate change will keep her from winning. "For a Republican to win in California, you have to win a majority of independents," says campaign manager Wilson. "They make up roughly 25% of the electorate and include decline-to-state voters and Democrats and Republicans who split their ticket." Wilson says these voters - just like the population at large - are very attentive to pocketbook issues. "We don't need to change our message to attract the independents. They have the same concerns about the softening economy and the lack of jobs." (See Fiorina's demon-sheep campaign ad.)

Boxer has survived tough races before. In Fiorina, she is blessed once again with an opponent who is pro-life in a state that is decidedly pro-choice. The BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico also plays in Boxer's favor. A wide majority of California voters oppose offshore drilling (59% to 36% three months after the massive Gulf spill). Speaking in Laguna Beach, Calif., in July, Boxer said, "Every book about California begins by describing our beautiful coast. We're not going to have 'Drill, baby, drill' off the coast." Knowing that the BP disaster has linked the environment and jobs in voters' minds, Boxer points out that 400,000 California jobs are directly related to the coast. (Comment on this story.)

Pomona College political scientist David Menefee-Libey is looking forward to Wednesday's debate. "Both are very articulate speakers, both are comfortable in front of an audience and neither backs down from conflict," he says. "The paradox is that neither has much experience in a high-stakes face-to-face election debate." Jack Pitney of Claremont McKenna College agrees. Fiorina debated her GOP rivals twice, once by phone; and Boxer largely avoided debates with her opponents in prior elections. Considering how combative they are, Pitney says, "The danger for both of them is they really haven't had a lot of time in the ring."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/0859920...94ZXJ2c2Zpb3Jp