CA: Senate Race is Close

David Siders reports in The Sacramento Bee:

Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer's job performance rating has fallen to a near record low, though she maintains a narrow, three-point lead over Republican rival Carly Fiorina in the U.S. Senate race, according to a Field Poll released today.

Forty-three percent of registered voters disapprove of the job Boxer is doing, while 42 percent approve, according to the nonpartisan poll. Among likely voters in November, 48 percent disapprove of the job Boxer is doing, the poll showed.

Not since 1994, two years after she was first elected, has Boxer's job rating been so low.

Still, Boxer leads Fiorina 47 percent to 44 percent among likely voters, according to the poll. Fiorina had come within one percentage point of Boxer in March, after trailing by as many as 30 points early last year.

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In addition to her weak job performance rating, Boxer's general image rating remains below where it stood last year. More likely voters hold an unfavorable view of her than a favorable one, 52 percent to 41 percent, according to the poll.

Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2010/07/08/2875833/boxers-job-marks-plummet-but-she.html#mi_rss=State%20Politics#ixzz0t5zmhs00

Boxer is going after Fiorina. Jesse Dungan reports in The Oakland Tribune:

Boxer acknowledged in her Wednesday night appearance that Hewlett-Packard is headquartered in Palo Alto, and she attacked Fiorina's track record at the global computer company, saying Fiorina tripled her salary while laying off numerous workers.

"Carly Fiorina never fought for our families," Boxer said. "She never even tried to."

The senator also took aim at Fiorina's political record: "A lot of people don't know who our opponent is because — guess what? — she never held public office."

Fiorina is not for American jobs, but instead supports corporate breaks and outsourcing, Boxer said.

"You couldn't have two candidates that disagree more on the basic issues of our time," she said.

And Boxer is trying to come across as a Feinstein-style workhorse. Maeve Reston reports in The Los Angeles Times:

For months, her Republican opponent Carly Fiorina has contended that Boxer is a "failed senator" with little to show for her time in the Senate. Fiorina's supporters tailed Boxer on Wednesday with signs bearing that message, and her spokeswoman, Julie Soderlund, kept up the criticism by accusing Boxer of trying to "rewrite the facts about her record and pretend she has actually accomplished something for the people of California."

To refute those attacks, Boxer's staff has spent the last few months cataloging every amendment, earmark and executive order that the senator has worked on over her three terms — posting many of them on her website and assembling packets of the "highlights" for local reporters in each city in her two-day campaign swing across California. The trip marked the formal campaign kickoff for Boxer.