Fiorina stays conservative in California race

Washington Time:

After Carly Fiorina won California's Republican Senate primary, many analysts expected her to shake off her conservative mantle and make a lunge for the moderate middle in the general election against liberal incumbent Sen. Barbara Boxer.

That's not how it has played out.

Mrs. Fiorina, the former Hewlett-Packard CEO who's seeking public office for the first time, hasn't tweaked her positions in the slightest. She's still as pro-life, anti-tax and anti-illegal-immigration as she was when she defeated two Republican challengers in June.

"Carly, unlike a normal Republican, who would track to the right in the primary and then go to the center, isn't doing that," said Los Angeles-based Republican political analyst Allan Hoffenblum. "She's all over Fox News and [conservative talk show host Sean] Hannity. She's really running a hard-core conservative campaign, not giving an inch."

This may be the year of the Republican, but this is also California, where President Obama remains popular and Republican registration has plummeted to less than 31 percent of voters, a historic low. If there's any place where Republican candidates can be forgiven for softening their tune, it's the Golden State.

It's too early to say whether the Fiorina strategy will pay off, but so far it's keeping her in contention. After trailing Mrs. Boxer for months in hypothetical matchups, Mrs. Fiorina has inched ahead, leading 49 percent to 42 percent among voters who have decided on a candidate, according to a Rasmussen Reports poll released last week.

Still, Mrs. Fiorina's run as a solid Republican can come as only good news to the Boxer campaign. In her previous Senate contests, Mrs. Boxer has played the right-wing card with aplomb, hammering her Republican foes for their politically incorrect stances on abortion and offshore drilling.

The problem this year is that social issues and the environment are taking back seats to the economy. California's unemployment rate has climbed to 12.3 percent, with voters now less interested in saving the whales than saving their homes and jobs.

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Boxer has never been very smart and when her issues are not working for her she tends to get frustrated and flustered. Fiorina is obvious much more intelligent and she is able to present conservatism in a none threatening way to California's liberals and independents. Fiorina has a real shot at winning.