San Francisco Chronicle: No Endorsement in California Senate Race

This is another thing I've been saying all year. At SF Chronicle (via Memeorandum):

Californians are left with a deeply unsatisfying choice for the U.S. Senate this year. The incumbent, Democrat Barbara Boxer, has failed to distinguish herself during her 18 years in office. There is no reason to believe that another six-year term would bring anything but more of the same uninspired representation. The challenger, Republican Carly Fiorina, has campaigned with a vigor and directness that suggests she could be effective in Washington - but for an agenda that would undermine this nation's need to move forward on addressing serious issues such as climate change, health care and immigration.

It is extremely rare that this editorial page would offer no recommendation on any race, particularly one of this importance. This is one necessary exception.

What I'd stress differently is not that Fiorina wouldn't move forward in addressing the nation's needs, but that's she's basically RINO. Yeah, she talks the good talk on fiscal policy, etc., and has tooted the right notes on immigration, etc., but down deep she's got some radical leftist sensibilities, on feminism and the role of the state in the social sphere. (See, "McCain-backed GOP Senate candidate Carly Fiorina hearts Jesse Jackson — and radical gender politics.") That said, I'm more inclined to vote for Fiorina than I am for Meg Whitman. It's the same story in the governor's race, as I noted previously. We have weak candidates all around. The state remains in the grips of the Democrat-SIEU corruption complex. Spending is out of control. Voters have repeatedly rejected big tax-and-spending projects placed before the electorate. As for Barbara Boxer, she's a classic Democrat Party hack. Up and down the line it's big government, radical leftist politics and the expansion of the state sector. Looking at the attack ad above all she can really do is attempt to smear Carly Fiorina over the air waves. It's all distortion, and she knows it, which is why she refuses to meet Fiorina for face-to-face debates. She'll be hammered as a corrupt out-of-touch bureaucrat, and I have to give Fiorina props on her ability to defend her record as HP CEO. In the end though, it's the voters who lose. Candidates are spending big money to gain and hold power, and they're refusing to really provide the electorate with the information and contact that would facilitate choice and accountability. If 2010 means anything, especially at the national level, when the Obama-Dem-Socialists get the boot, it's that the country's up for a realignment of our political ethics. People really want to take back government. They want responsiveness and good policy. They want elected officials to put the needs of average folks first, especially on the economy. Democrat pork-barrel projects have obviously not revived the economy, and voters don't think the recession's ended. But the beauty of democracy is that change is possible. And we're heading into that perfect storm this year. I can't wait.