Carly Fiorina Announces United States Senate Run

Carly Fiorina, the former CEO of Hewitt Packard, has formally announced her candidacy for the United States Senate in California, running against incumbent Senator Barbara Boxer. In what will be a Republican year, Fiorina stands a decent chance of winning.

The Washington Post is suggesting that Carly Fiorina will have some obstacles on her way to the United States Senate. First, she has a primary opponent, Chuck Devore, to beat. Devore is considered more conservative than Carly Fiorina and has a political base of support.

Carly Fiorina is also vulnerable because of her stormy tenure as CEO of Hewitt Packard and because of a somewhat sparse voting record. Look for Barbara Boxer, an unusually scrappy, some might say vicious, campaigner to exploit such vulnerabilities to the hilt.

Barbara Boxer is also vulnerable. Barbara Boxer's voting and political record is far to the left even by the standards of blue state California. Voters in California have become more and more irked by high taxes and an unresponsive state government and might be inclined to take things out on Barbara Boxer.

Barbara Boxer also has a hot, uncontrolled temper. Just this last June Barbara Boxer gave an Army Brigadier General a tongue lashing for calling her "ma'am" instead of "Senator." The incident suggests an imperiousness greater than that of the Queen of England, who is quite content to be referred to as "ma'am."

Carly Fiorina also has a great deal of personal wealth to throw into the campaign, vital in a large state such as California with its expensive media markets.

Carly Fiorina made her announcement for the Senate by hitting Barbara Boxer for non performance as a Senator. Then she disclosed some of the issues she intends to run upon. She started with government accountability and transparency.

"Our most pressing problems today are too few jobs for Americans and too much spending in Washington. As California's senator, economic recovery and fiscal accountability will be my priorities. I will not settle for a jobless recovery. And we can start the important work of getting our financial house back in order by demanding to know where our money is being spent. Let's put every government budget and every government bill on the Internet for every citizen to see."

Carly Fiorina continued to expound on taxing and spending.

"Tax, spend and borrow is not a governing philosophy; it's a cycle of dependency and it is one that must be broken. Washington must show the discipline to cut spending and create policies that encourage and empower businesses to put people back to work."

Then Carly Fiorina related the issue to a problem faced by Californians because of an out of control environmental bureaucracy.

"For example, about 40,000 California farmers and farm workers in our Central Valley are out of work because we can't find a balance between protecting our environment and protecting the economy. We can change this terrible situation by changing our representation in the U.S. Senate."

It should be noted that Barbara Boxer has been unresponsive to the plight of the Central Valley farmers. Finally, Carly Fiorina touched on the all important issue of health care reform.

"Another issue that is center stage on Capitol Hill is health care reform. As a cancer survivor, this is an issue close to my heart. Rather than remaking the entire national health care system at the cost of higher taxes and exploding deficits, we should build on what works, such as expanding access to community clinics that will give those most in need appropriate care at a reasonable price.

"Congress should reform medical malpractice to match what we have in California where frivolous lawsuits are a thing of the past. We should permit consumers to purchase health insurance from any company in the country, expanding consumer choice and driving down cost and unnecessary mandates.

"People want to know that their care will stay where it belongs: in the hands of doctors and patients. Unfortunately, the path Congress is on in this debate is not giving us the confidence that it will."

Carly Fiorina seems to be prepared to run as a practical fiscal conservative, which should have appeal in California. It will be interesting to see how far she gets in her quest to become a US Senator.

Sources: CA-Sen Fiorina's In, Chris Cillizza, Washington Post, November 4th, 2009

Barbara Boxer: 'Call Me Senator', Mark R. Whittington, Associated Content, June 18th, 2009

Carly Fiorina: Why I'm running for Senate, Carly Fiorina, Orange County Register, November 4th, 2009