It’s Boxer 47 percent, Fiorina 44 – right around the margin of error. The results are similar to the last Field Poll in March. They also show the senator facing the cloud of incumbency – a dirty word with voters this year. Boxer’s job performance and favorable ratings are just above 40 percent. Fiorina campaign manager Marty Wilson says the senator is in trouble.
Wilson: “The voters of California are ready to fire Barbara Boxer. A 52 percent disapproval rating is an abysmal number, and it’s reflective of her failed leadership in the United States Senate.”
The poll also shows nearly four in ten voters don’t know Fiorina yet – and Boxer wants to shape their opinion right away. At a rally Wednesday in Sacramento, the senator criticized Fiorina’s record at Hewlett-Packard.
Boxer: “What she doesn’t tell you is, she was fired from that job, and she laid off 30,000 workers (boos) and shipped – yes, and she shipped their jobs to China.”
Boxer does hold leads among independents and those who describe themselves as politically middle-of-the-road. But Fiorina has picked up the support of nearly 20 percent of Democrats.
Boxer Tours Big Build, Holds Campaign Rally
Boxer's brief stop in Sacramento Wednesday came during a whirlwind campaign tour throughout the state. The senator toured the “Big Build” construction project at the Sacramento International Airport, a project using federal stimulus funds.
Afterwards, at a rally with a couple-dozen union members, Boxer compared her position on the federal stimulus package to that of Fiorina.
Boxer: “My opponent would have voted no on the Economic Recovery act. Were it not for the Economic Recovery act, this project would have stopped. So we were able to move it forward and move forward with all these jobs.”
Fiorina campaign manager Marty Wilson says 400,000 Californians have lost their jobs since the measure passed, and the stimulus hasn’t had a big enough effect on the state’s economy.
