From today’s Wall Street Journal Political Diary E-mail…

In another year, Carly Fiorina vs. Barbara Boxer would be one of the premier races in the country. This year, it’s not even the most watched race in California, an accolade that belongs right now to the Meg Whitman-Steve Poizner gubernatorial primary.

Ms. Fiorina, who dropped by the Journal last week, has struggled with name recognition and getting her message out. She acknowledged the experimental nature of her greatest publicity hits — her "demon sheep" Internet video, which was aimed at GOP rival Tom Campbell, and the balloon video aimed at Ms. Boxer. Both "served their purpose," she says. One message came through clearly enough: Ms. Fiorina is no fan of big-spending, big-taxing government.

Ms. Fiorina’s first hurdle is the June 8 GOP primary. Polls have her running slightly behind former Rep. Campbell, who she says isn’t a "real conservative" because he won’t take the Americans for Tax Reform pledge and because he supports a 32-cent gas tax hike to close the state’s budget deficit. In contrast, Ms. Fiorina emphasizes a national policy of spending cuts and tax incentives to restore growth. She calls for elimination of the federal estate tax, a payroll tax holiday for businesses hiring new workers and a lower corporate tax rate.

California, she adds, is a laboratory of failed liberalism. With the 48th worst business tax climate in the country, California suffers from a sky-high 12.5% unemployment rate. Eight of its counties have unemployment rates above 20%, largely due to the Endangered Species Act, which restricts water pumping in order to protect the threatened delta smelt. The restrictions, which Ms. Boxer supports, have left vast expanses of farmland fallow and thousands of Central Valley farmers jobless.

Ms. Fiorina says she also opposes the Obama deficit reduction commission because it’s designed to supply political cover for higher taxes. Nor is she impressed with the financial regulation bill taking shape, which leaves Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac "untouched."

Immigration is proving a tricky issue for GOPers everywhere. Ms. Fiorina told us she supports increasing a federal temporary worker program and securing the borders, but opposes Arizona’s new immigration law because it seeks to deal with a federal issue on a state level. In interviews with CNBC and Politico, though, she bent over backwards to say she "understands" the frustrations of Arizonans while decrying a "racist tone" adopted by some of its backers. Look for more pressure on her to clarify whether she supports or opposes Arizona’s action.

Another wicket is whether she’d support a federal bailout of California. The state can’t technically declare bankruptcy despite its $20 billion deficit, but that’s "cold comfort" to Californians, she says. When pressed on whether she would vote against a bailout in Congress, she said she didn’t "know how to handle that theoretical question."

— Allysia Finley

This entry was posted on Monday, May 3rd, 2010 at 12:00 am and is filed under Blog Posts.