Sen. Barbara Boxer says every state now ‘in play’

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Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), after meeting privately in the U.S. Capitol with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders to discuss federal assistance for the state, told reporters that the lesson from Tuesday’s special Senate election in Massachusetts is that she can’t take anything for granted. Boxer is up for reelection this year and is being aggressively targeted by the GOP.

‘I think every state is now in play, absolutely,’’ she said. ‘You have to make the case that you’re the one that’s on the people’s side. And people have to get it.’’

Asked if Senate Democrats were to blame for the results in Massachusetts, where state Sen. Scott Brown scored a big win for Republicans by winning a longtime Democratic seat, Boxer said, ‘I would take it to the campaign itself. ... Never, ever, ever take an election for granted. … People have to know you’re in their corner, you’re with them, you’re on their side. You have to make the case. You can’t presume.’

Boxer’s colleague, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), offered her take outside the Senate chamber today. ‘People are very unsettled,’ she said. ‘They are very worried. There is anger. There is angst. Going home, you see how different it is. You walk down a street and you see three out of 10 stores closed, street after street, block after block. … You see high unemployment. …You see anger.

‘I can tell you the situation has changed dramatically, and I think it’s a sweep across the country. … The administration has to see it, and we have to see it. And therefore, everything is jobs and the economy and education.’’

-- Richard Simon in Washington