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Fiorina: White Men Can't Beat Boxer

By Philip Klein on 11.23.09 @ 12:15PM

U.S. Senate candidate Carly Fiorina said at an American Spectator Newsmaker Breakfast this morning that her primary opponent, Chuck DeVore, could not beat Sen. Barbara Boxer in a general election because Boxer knows how to win against "white men."

Fiorina focused her opening remarks on contrasting herself with Boxer, who she painted as a liberal Democrat who has not accomplished much during her three terms in office and has advanced tax, spending, and regulatory policies that have crippled California's economy.

When asked what set her apart from DeVore, she said that they agreed on the issues, but that she wasn't a career politician and she had a better chance of beating Boxer.

"He is an honorable man," Fiorina said of DeVore. "He has every right to run. But he cannot beat Barbara Boxer."

She continued, "With all due respect and deep affection for white men -- I'm married to one -- but [Boxer] knows how to beat them. She's done it over and over and over."

Diane DeVore, Chuck's wife, responded on Twitter that, "Carly, I'm married to that 'white guy' & I can tell u he can win against mods and libs. Has record to prove it!"

Fiorina said her strategy was to "bang away at [Boxer's] voting record, from which she cannot hide." Fiorina also used the morning to expand on her beliefs on a wide range of issues including taxes, spending, the role of unions, and abortion. She also defended her record as CEO of Hewlett-Packard. Fiorina described herself as a fiscal and social conservative.

"I am pro-life," Fiorina said. "I believe that life begins at conception." She also said she supported the Stupak amendment in the House health care bill that bars women from using government subsidies to purchase policies that cover abortion.

I asked her to clarify her comments given that labels can mean different things to different people, and some who may describe themselves as personally pro-life may still believe that individual women should have the right to choose abortion.

"Well, that is the situation in the world today," Fiorina responded. "That is reality. What I think about it is, I'm not sure, relevant to the job I'm seeking other than of course Supreme Court nominees, but the reality is that a woman can walk into Planned Parenthood today and get an abortion. Now, I believe we should all be working to limit the number of abortions, so in that sense, no I do not believe that everyone should have that choice. But they do today. I'm just trying to be realistic. That's why I think this Stupak amendment is so important, and frankly, I think the debate the Stupak amendment has created is quite instructive about what the motivations mean behind some of these things. I believe that life begins at conception and I believe we must protect the rights of the unborn. And I believe that science continues to demonstrate that a fetus is viable at a younger and younger age, and I know, as a realist, that not everyone agrees with me. So the common ground that we can find is how to reduce abortions."

She also said that she believed in the sanctity of marriage as being between a man and a woman, and said she voted for Proposition 8, the California ballot measure to amend the state constitution to keep marriage between a man and a woman.

Responding to a question about her position on U.S. Supreme Court nominations, she said that she "probably" would have voted to confirm Sonia Sotomayor because "elections have consequences" and "she seemed qualified." Fiorina cautioned that she was dealing with her own breast cancer at the time and thus was not in a position to closely examine the judge's record.

Fiorina said that she was opposed to bailouts and President Obama's economic stimulus package. Instead, she said, she supports low taxes and spending, and described the nation's debt as "unsustainable."

In response to a question about the dominant role of public sector unions in her state, she said that "there is growing anger in California over the vice grip that unions have over the state." She said that they have a disproportionate influence relative to the amount of workers they represent.

She said that she would bring an outsider's perspective to Washington as somebody who had spent her business career balancing billion-dollar budgets. She defended her tenure at HP, saying that she managed to double the size of the company during a severe "tech recession," and created jobs on a net basis. While she did outsource, she said it was only because California's tax code makes it difficult to employ people in the state. Remarking on her ouster from the company, she argued that subsequent revelations that her successor was spying on her and other board members vindicated her.

She said she wasn't too concerned about polls showing her within a point of DeVore, noting that her campaign was just starting and he's been campaigning for 18 months, and the primary isn't until June.

Asked whether she expected Sarah Palin to endorse a candidate in the race, Fiorina said she didn't know. But she added, "I share Sarah Palin's values."

UPDATE: A DeVore spokesman emails to say he has been running for 12 months.

View all comments (19) | Leave a comment

Saywhat?| 11.23.09 @ 12:45PM

Carly is a liar! Created jobs on a net basis??? Is she joking?? Right, when you include the people who came over from Compaq - but what about the 40000 who were laid off!

rt| 11.23.09 @ 12:58PM

why do you Establishment types keep promoting RINOs like Fiorina? She's nothjing but an opportunist politician like all the rest of them lying RINOs they talk a good talk and stab us conservatives in the back when it comes to the votes. She's another one of them liberal goo goos from the Bay area with no clue what a conservative is or what it menas. STOP promoting people like her and her ilk are u listening Meg Whitman????? Stay out cuz we are never going to vote for Dem lite ever again!

Brian in Scottsdale| 1.8.10 @ 2:56PM

I feel your fear. On the surface she seems to be playing all of the right notes, but I can't shake her association with McCain who seems to be the standard for room terperature IQ RINO "Self-Servants". Here in AZ, we are praying that Hayworth will run against him.

Oldefarte| 11.23.09 @ 1:00PM

Fiorina ran an international business and would bring conservative managerial expertise and business discipline and ideas to the senate. Boxer is nothing but a typical liberal from California, ie Brown, Waxman, Pilosi,etc; and needs to be defeated [if the people of California are smart enough]. With the state bleeding money with their deficit problems, they had better start electing politicians like Fiorina if they want to survive!!!!

daboss| 11.23.09 @ 2:18PM

You mean she nearly destroyed an international company …the running joke at HP was how did Compaq buy HP with HP’s money …

Their whole product line was replaced with Compact’s. All that survived was the printer business. They even adiosed the PA-RISC chip. Probably the most advanced CPU of the time.

Lets hope she is a better politician than executive.

Eric Damon| 11.23.09 @ 1:12PM

"Elections have consequences". Seems like I heard that line somewhere before...lemme see...wait a minute....GOT IT! That is exactly what Lindsey Grahamnesty said to justify his support for a nominee that he went after in questioning. The idea that just because someone won an election they should not be opposed because "Elections have consequences" is ridiculous, and a path to the continuing socialization of the country.

Blacque Jacques Shellacque| 11.23.09 @ 1:55PM

Didn't she get her golden parachute from HP?

She needs to retire someplace, enjoy her $20M or whatever else is left of it, and leave the rest of us alone.

darcy| 11.23.09 @ 4:18PM

Oh, yes, elections have consequences, Carly.

Let me show you how the dems handle it:

[F]ight aggressively from day one; "Fifty-six million people came out and voted for John Kerry to defeat George Bush. Those 56 million people are counting on those Democrats to get in there and fight for them."

Implement a "stonewall stratgegy . . . [don't] budge."

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,144082,00.html

Put out a circular instructing that Bush is not to be permitted ANY successes!!! Like Howard Dean.

The democrats fight with howitzers and the republicans respond with picnics. That's because they BOTH want the same things: power, prestige, and control -- and they'll take whatever road necessary, assume any posture whatever, to leach the American taxpayer and achieve their goal.

Corrupt, noxious, and pernicious blood-suckers, that's what 90% of politicians are.

Carly -- let's not forget -- was a HUGE fan and promoter of John McCain and both of them, two fat-cat RINOs seek only to further entrench their power at the expense of our pocketbooks and freedoms.

HELL NO. The people erect -- even as I write -- a wall under, over, around, or through which RINOs will no longer pass. Our tolerance has ended; our eyes are open, and our aim is sure.

We're huntin' RINOs, and whenever and wherever we sniff them out, we will dispatch them to retirement, where they belong -- at present, through the voting booth.

If that fails, it's time for the tar and feathers and the pillory stocks.

SoCon| 11.23.09 @ 8:48PM

darcy, I like your style! Tar and feathers would be fun, wouldn't it?

Spicy Joker| 11.23.09 @ 10:38PM

Carly Fiorina looks like more of a white man than Chuck DeVore.

Kirstin| 11.24.09 @ 10:52AM

Fiorina shares Palin's values ... but during the McCain-Palin campaign, she said that Palin (and McCain) would not be able to do her job. How helpful.

Fiorina and Whitman may be preferable to the Dem candidates, but I prefer their challengers in the Rep primary.

Jim P.| 11.26.09 @ 2:32AM

Fiorina is so damn annoying. She wrecks Lucent, then wrecks HP. She was not respected by the employees at either company. She wasn't technically savvy, and she wasn't a strong charasmatic leader. She was an empty suit that was eventually run out of HP. Now she pops back up as the latest RINO. Wonderful. Please go away Carly - we need to get behind Devore 100%.

levotb| 11.28.09 @ 4:44AM

No one here has mentioned Fiorina's being like so many big business CEOs/Republicans are--Open Borders and weak on the Invasion by Mexico (aka illegal immigration). Chuck DeVore isn't particularly strong on it either but I'd vote for him over Fiorina any day. We don't need another ball-busting feminist in the U.S. Senate--too many of those as it is! DeVore is a fiscal conservative Libertarian, by the way. He feels that we've lost the battle against illegal immigration due to "the numbers game" and that he cannot win running on an anti-Invasion platform. I think he's mistaken, but that's what his political advisors I assume have told him--"leave illegal immigration alone". Big mistake. He should take it and run with it! People are angry and want their jobs an homes back. We can't do it with 10 million-plus illegals in CA living off the taxpayers, closing hospitals, etc. Get rid of many of the illegals and we'll have lower rents and many jobs available in these really tough times.