MAY WE NOT HAVE BARBARA BOXER TO KICK AROUND ANYMORE - AT 10:55 P.M. ET:  There is political news from California, a state that, although broke, still votes:

Sen. Barbara Boxer, who has taken heat in recent months for clashes at Senate hearings, is facing a potentially tough election challenge from prominent businesswoman Carly Fiorina, who is within striking distance in a recent poll.

Fiorina, a former Hewlett-Packard CEO and top economic adviser to John McCain's presidential campaign, hasn't said yet whether she'll throw her hat in the ring against Boxer for the California Democrat's Senate seat next year. But it already could be shaping up to up be one of the most closely watched Senate contests.

A Rasmussen Reports telephone survey released July 24 shows that Fiorina is trailing by only 4 percentage points behind in a hypothetical head-to-head with the three-term incumbent. The poll put Boxer's support in such a face-off at only 45 percent, with 7 percent of survey respondents saying they're undecided.

COMMENT:  It's hard to think of anything that Barbara Boxer contributes to the Senate.  Maybe she brings nice chocolates on some days, or an orange.  But there's not much beyond that.  She's so weak that even liberal Democrats in her own delegation are afraid to let her handle one of their prime pieces of legislation, the one on alleged climate change.  She recently embarrassed herself - not the first time - by demanding that an Army general call her "senator," whereas other senators are often called mister or ms. or mrs.  President Kennedy would often get on the phone and say, "This is Mr. Kennedy."  But Barbara likes the title.

Carly Fiorina has no experience as a political candidate, and her reign at Hewlett-Packard was bumpy.  She would be running in a heavily Democratic state.  But if she could pull it off, she'd be a major national figure overnight, and give the California congressional delegation some balance.

July 25, 2009