Fiorina takes fight to Boxer in Senate campaign kickoff

Nov 05, 2009 (San Jose Mercury News - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- HPQ | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina launched an uphill campaign Wednesday to unseat three-term Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer, aggressively portraying herself as a business-savvy problem solver who would impose fiscal discipline on a profligate Congress.

The 55-year-old Republican and political neophyte -- her once curly blond hair closely cropped and graying after a recently completed round of chemotherapy for breast cancer -- wasted no time taking the fight to Boxer, calling her a do-nothing career politician whose actions have saddled the country with debt and stifled job creation. She charged that Boxer has authored only three bills that became law during her 17 years as a senator -- including one that named a courthouse and another that named a river. Boxer's campaign called the claim a wild distortion.

"Sometimes I wonder whether California even has two U.S. senators," Fiorina told a roomful of employees and others at a green products company in Garden Grove as she announced her Senate bid. "There's Dianne Feinstein and then there's what's-her-name."

Then, referring to two works of fiction that Boxer has penned in recent years, Fiorina added sarcastically: "At that killer pace of one piece of legislation for every term in office, she has managed to write two fiction novels, and in August, instead of holding town hall meetings, she was on a book tour. What do you say we work together and give Barbara Boxer the chance

next year to become a full-time novelist!"

Rose Kapolczynski, Boxer's campaign consultant, said Boxer actually has had more than 1,000 proposals enacted into law, and she said that by Fiorina's narrow criteria of legislative success, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., wouldn't even get credit for his well-known McCain-Feingold campaign finance law.

Must beat DeVore

"She was relentlessly negative," Kapolczynski said, "and started her campaign with distortions of Sen. Boxer's record while glossing over her own record."

With millions in personal wealth, a telegenic persona and the backing of some national Republican leaders, Fiorina could give Boxer, 68, the stiffest re-election challenge of her career. But first, Fiorina has to win the June GOP primary against state Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, R-Irvine, a popular figure among grass-roots Republicans.

Calling himself the true conservative in the primary, DeVore said in an interview that he should not be written off.

"We will be adequately funded," he said, referring to questions about whether he'll be able to raise enough money to compete against the deep-pocketed Fiorina. "And we are methodically tying down the grass roots, the people that actually get out and work for candidates."

In her 15-minute campaign kickoff speech, Fiorina attempted to frame the race as a referendum on what she called Boxer's ineffectiveness, while casting her own oft-criticized record in business as a success. One of this decade's most recognizable business figures in Silicon Valley, Fiorina was ousted at HP in 2005 after orchestrating a merger with computer maker Compaq. On Wednesday, she argued that the controversial merger, along with cost-cutting measures she enacted, laid the groundwork for the success the iconic high-tech firm is now enjoying.

But that picture of her time as HP chief is sure to be a hot topic of debate during the campaign. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee sent a news release after Fiorina's campaign launch saying that 28,000 HP employees lost their jobs during Fiorina's time at the helm. Fiorina's campaign did not dispute the layoff figure but said that overall, HP's "worldwide" work force grew by 60,000 while she was CEO.

Time in Washington

While Fiorina described herself as a political outsider who would shake up the establishment, she has spent a significant amount of time in Washington since she left HP in 2005. The same year, she and her husband, retired AT&T executive Frank Fiorina, bought a Georgetown condominium for $3.6 million, according to property records.

Last year, she served as a surrogate for Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign, although her visibility waned after some high-profile gaffes, including a remark that McCain and running mate Sarah Palin were not qualified to run a major company.

Throughout her speech, Fiorina almost seemed to be girding for a fight with Boxer, who is known for her combative campaign style.

"I have to say that after chemotherapy, Barbara Boxer just isn't that scary anymore," Fiorina said, in one of several mentions of Fiorina's battle with breast cancer this year. "She has always taken the low road to higher office, so get ready. But I can take a punch, and I can throw a punch."

Contact Mike Zapler at 202-662-8921.

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