Boxer Touts Green Jobs At San Jose Campaign Stop
SAN JOSE (AP) -- Sen. Barbara Boxer got a lift Monday from fellow Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein—regarded as California's most popular politician—as Boxer began the final week of a tough campaign to retain the seat she has held for nearly two decades.
Feinstein emphasized Boxer's senior ranking in the Senate after the two Democrats toured a Silicon Valley solar manufacturing plant that received stimulus funding.
"In the United States Senate, much is accomplished on the basis of advocacy and seniority," Feinstein said. "Sen. Barbara Boxer is a ten when it comes to both."
The campaign event came after a University of Southern California-Los Angeles Times poll released Sunday showed Boxer maintaining a narrowing advantage, 47 percent to 41 percent, against Republican challenger Carly Fiorina, a former Hewlett-Packard Co. chief executive. The gap was smaller than the same poll showed a month ago.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee said Monday the organization will direct another $3 million toward a round of Fiorina television ads in the campaign's final week. Fiorina's camp said the move shows the party's confidence in her ability to become the first Republican to win a Senate seat in California since 1992.
On Monday, Boxer, Feinstein and Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-San Jose, toured the manufacturing floor and research-and-development facilities at Stion Co., a solar module maker with about 100 employees. It hopes to expand to 1,000 workers within five years.
Boxer used the event to highlight the differences between Fiorina and her on climate change, the environment and job creation.
"We must not settle for No. 2 when it comes to clean energy," Boxer said.
Boxer opposes Proposition 23 on the Nov. 2 ballot, which would suspend a 2006 state law that delays greenhouse gas reduction targets until unemployment improves considerably. She said greenhouse gas reductions would provide a remedy for climate change and create jobs in the clean-energy sector.
Fiorina has said the law will eliminate jobs because of the costs it will impose on businesses. She says that's the wrong approach for California as the state attempts to recover from the recession and a 12.4 percent jobless rate. States cannot act alone against climate change, she has said.
The former chief executive of Hewlett-Packard Co. brought her economic message to Bakersfield and Fresno on Monday, in a region that has been hit hard by the recession. A combination of drought and federal water cutbacks have hurt the agriculture industry, contributing to unemployment rates in some Central Valley towns above 20 percent.
Fiorina said helping small businesses and manufacturers is the key to reviving the region and turning around California's economy.
"The Central Valley has never had a fighter in the Senate," Fiorina said, as she spoke in a warehouse at Spray Force Manufacturing Inc., which makes equipment used to apply plaster and drywall materials. "I support anything that helps invest in infrastructure in this state."
The company's owner, Bryan Thompson, said he recently had to lay off 40 workers.
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