Can Fiorina surmount Boxers damning portrayal of her on TV?
LOS ANGELES — In mid-September, many California voters got their first introduction to Republican Senate candidate Carly Fiorina, and it was not a pleasant one. She was, TV viewers were told over and over again, a heartless corporate bigwig who blithely fired her workers and sent their jobs overseas, all while raking in millions and living the high life. The former Hewlett-Packard CEO has barely responded to that damning portrayal in a 30-second TV ad aired by her opponent, Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer. And if the first-time candidate loses on Tuesday, as polls indicate is likely, one of the main reasons will be that she violated a cardinal rule of politics: Don’t allow your opponent to define you. Fiorina settled on a campaign strategy early on of trying to make the election a referendum on Boxer and the sour economy, relentlessly attacking the three-term incumbent on TV as an arrogant career politician whose policies contributed to Californians’ economic pain. But most voters were
