California’s two-term incumbant senator has solid support and a commanding lead in the polls
Evelyn Barge
Assistant A&E Editor
With less than one week until the general election, incumbent Democrat Barbara Boxer is holding a steady lead in the polls over Republican challenger Bill Jones in the race for the U.S. Senate.
One poll conducted in mid-October by the Field Research Corporation showed Boxer has a 14 point lead over Jones.
Boxer, a California senator for almost 12 years, has been a strong proponent of abortion rights, environmental protection and gun control.
In 2003 the nonpartisan National Journal said Boxer had the fifth most liberal Senate voting record. Boxer’s consistently liberal voting has led some critics to label her an extremist and oppositionist.
“Senator Boxer is seen as an extremist and a liberal by even median voters in the state,” said Dr. Michael Shires, professor in the School of Public Policy.
But Boxer’s liberal record has also won strong support from Democratic-leaning Californians, and it may earn her election to a third term Nov. 2.
“At this point, Jones has very little chance of upsetting Boxer,” said Dr. Chris Soper, chair of the Social Science Division. “In theory, Gov. Scwarzenegger’s election should have helped [Jones], but it is not clear that the governor has worked all that hard on Jones’ campaign.”
Boxer’s re-election campaign has focused on a number of issues including health care.
“In this election, health care is one of the three or four most important issues to the voters because there are more Americans without health insurance than four years ago, and health care premiums have become much more expensive,” Soper said.
Boxer has proposed legislation to make health insurance premiums tax deductible and has recently called for a patients’ bill of rights.
“Her call for a patients’ bill of rights is a strong point, because that is a major problem of the healthcare system today,” said junior history and economics major Joshua Banister. “Consumers don’t have enough choice and the power is wielded by the HMOs and insurance companies,” said Banister, who is the Inter-Club Council representative for the Young Democrats.
Shires said what Boxer has not mentioned in her discussions on healthcare is noteable.
“She has not discussed the cost of health care, covering millions of uninsured Americans, or expansion of Medicare and Medicaid support,” Shires said. “These issues are typically at the forefront of Democratic political campaigns, but absent from hers.”
In addition to health-care reform, Boxer has also been an outspoken proponent of environmental protection measures.
She successfully backed an amendment in March 2003 to prevent oil drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge and introduced legislation in 1998 to ban offshore oil drilling along the coast of California.
“California voters are generally pro-environment, and, more specifically, are likely to support an active government role to regulate or protect the environment,” Soper said.
“Her biggest liability here is that gas prices have increased dramatically in recent months, and the GOP will argue that opening the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge to drilling could, at least in the long run, bring down gas prices,” Soper said.
Besides environmental concerns, another notable platform issue for Boxer has been abortion rights.
One of the strongest abortion rights advocates in the Senate, Boxer opposed a bill in 2003 that sought to ban partial-birth abortions. Boxer argued that the bill should allow for exceptions, especially if a woman’s health is at risk.
“Given the state’s strong polling in favor of abortion, it will likely help her,” Shires said.
In the area of foreign policy, Boxer was one of just 23 senators who voted in 2002 against giving President Bush the authority to go to war in Iraq. She has since said she stands behind the decision.
“Since the war is not going particularly well right now, Boxer’s vote on authorizing the president is not likely to cause her much harm,” Soper said. “Had the war gone swimmingly from start to end, it might have hurt her.”
Shires said it is important to remember the circumstances surrounding her vote.
“One has to give her credit for going against the grain on principle in her vote, but she made it at a time where the national presence and confidence was leaning the other way,” Shires said.
Boxer also voted in 2003 against President Bush’s $87 billion budget plan to fund military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. She told the AP she voted against the bill because “the administration had no burden-sharing plan or exit strategy.”
Although she did not support the war in Iraq, Boxer has played a role in homeland security.
In 2002 she worked with Sen. Bob Smith, R-N.H., to pass an amendment allowing pilots to carry guns in cockpits and placing more air marshals on flights at risk for attacks. She also introduced legislation that would require commercial aircraft to be outfitted with defense equipment against shoulder-fired missiles.
However, Boxer has also said there is too much defense spending and that homeland security is not her top priority. She told the AP her priorities for a third term would focus more on families and less on “throwing money overseas like we’re doing in Iraq.”
Boxer serves on the Environment and Public Works Committee, the Commerce Committee and the Foreign Relations Committee.
Before becoming a U.S. Senator, Boxer was a member of the House of Representatives from 1983 to 1993.
A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., Boxer moved to California in 1965.
Republican candidate faces an up-hill battle as he faces fund shortages and a lack of name recognition.
Diana Htoo
Staff Writer
Less than a week remains until Election Day and Bill Jones is counting on a large Republican turnout and new or independent voters to turn the tide for him according to the Los Angeles Times. Currently trailing in various polls, the 54-year-old former Secretary of State for California represents the Republicans’ effort to oust the 63-year-old incumbent Democrat, Barbara Boxer, from the U.S. Senate.
For senior Andrew Cook, a double major in economics and political science, Bill Jones is ideologically the best candidate that the Republicans have put out in a while. Cook himself is an avid Republican who is a member of the College Republicans; he also has his own political action committee called “United to Strength in America,” which promotes a more conservative agenda among college students.
“(Jones) is very conservative, a very strong Republican, and very well supported by the Californian Republican Party,” Cook said of the U.S. Senate nominee whom he met last month and has followed for some time.
“For a man like Bill Jones, he’s interested in making the tax cuts a permanent part so that people can have their money,” Cook said. “He’s interested in bringing government spending down as well. Basically it’s so that we don’t become a welfare state.“
Dr. Stanley Moore, professor of political science, does not feel the same way. “Bill Jones will continue tax cuts to the wealthy,” he said. Moore said cutting taxes entails cutting services – services that include those essential to the middle and lower income population.
Apart from his support for permanent tax cuts, Jones discusses other issues such as education, abortion, immigration, the environment, crime, war and terrorism on his Web site (www.jonesforcalifornia.com). His authoring of the three-strikes law in 1994 also demonstrates his focus on national and state security.
But according to Dr. Michael Shires, assistant professor of Public Policy and director of the Murray S. Craig Digital Democracy Laboratory, Jones has failed to distinguish himself as a creditable candidate and compelling replacement for Boxer.
“In order for Bill to win this election he had to have a profile and let people know who he was,” Shires said. “Being Secretary of the State of California is not enough to carry you through a U.S. Senate race. He had to sort of be strategic and step out and take some positions in opposition to Boxer. That would have generated some of the interest.”
If Jones’ failure to rouse public interest had to be attributed to anything, troubling fund-raising efforts would be one of them, as reported by The San Francisco Chronicle. Nevertheless, Shires explained that Jones’ lack of funds was caused by his lack of prominence and reputability, and less than aggressive stances. Conveying the feelings of some of the people who have been approached by the Jones campaign, Shires said they were unwilling to fork out donations for such a seemingly futile effort.
Shires acknowledged that defeating Boxer will be challenging.
“It was an uphill battle all along,” he said. “There’s no doubt she had the strongest position. She had the money on her side. She had the incumbency on her side. Those were big obstacles to overcome.”
Shires explained how voters are weighing in on the two candidates.
“For most people who are to the right of the center, the issue is not so much ‘how much do I like Bill Jones’ but ‘how much do I dislike Barbara Boxer’s position on things,’” Shires said.
Rather than take a traditionally conservative stance, Shires said staking the middle ground would have been more favorable for Jones or any opponents of Boxer. In addition, Shires said candidates must note the issues that actually resonate strongly with Califor-nians – abortion, education, the death penalty and the business climate.
Jones’ other prominent issue is illegal immigration — a topic that Shires said is not a strong one to pick. Nevertheless, Cook said that while immigration may not be a big issue at the moment, it has the potential to become one because of the security threat plaguing the United States.
According to Cook, Jones also wants the definition of a legal citizen to be very clear and precise because of the impact immigration has on California’s economy, especially in the agricultural areas such as those between Santa Barbara and San Francisco.
In addition to improving border security – discussed at length on Jones’ Web site – Jones wants Congress to reimburse the local governments for the cost of illegal immigrants. Jones has based this on the National Research Council study from 1997 which had shown that illegal immigrants paid taxes to the federal government while local governments had to bear the costs.
“There I think Bill Jones picks up an interesting point,” Shires said. “If he could have sold Californians on the idea that he would be effective in drawing those dollars, then it’s possible that he could have an impact there in terms of his campaign.”
Despite the opposition to Jones, looking at the values and vision for the future of California and for Pepperdine, Shires said he feels Jones is closer to that vision than Boxer.
“I don’t think there’s any secret of debate over Boxer being an extreme liberal,” he said. “I don’t think Pepperdine would have endorsed that side of the equation.”
10-28-2004