Fiorina courts voters in Palm Desert
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Republican senate candidate Carly Fiorina on Sunday started her whirlwind get-out-the-vote tour in the Republican enclave of Palm Desert inside a packed Keedy’s Fountain Grill, an old-fashioned breakfast joint and malt shop named the region’s “best greasy spoon’ by Palm Springs Life magazine.
Fiorina, who will face Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer at the polls Tuesday, arrived decked out in festive orange to celebrate Halloween and the San Francisco Giants’ World Series hopes. She squeezed her way through the aisles, dodging waitresses and busboys, to butter up youngsters about their Halloween plans and ask their parents to cast their votes for her.
Rudy Rocha, a contractor from La Quinta, shook the hand of the former Hewlett-Packard chief, saying he was leaning toward voting for her. “I’m a Democrat, but I just think we need some new faces,’ said Rocha, enjoying breakfast with 11 family members on the patio.
Inside, Brad Weimer wasn’t as impressed. The die-hard Democrat will be backing Boxer.
“What has Carly Fiorina ever done?’’ said Weimer, 45, a hotel manager who also owns Brandini Toffee in La Quinta with his wife, Angela. “I can’t wait until it’s all over. I wish it was about solving problems, not attacking everyone else.’
Weimer’s friend Richard Tryell, a retired bartender and maitre d’ from Palm Springs, said he’ll happily cancel out Weimer’s vote. He dismissed Boxer as another “stale politician’’ who needs to go. “Boxer has been there for 20 years, or whatever,’’ said Tryell, 67. “I think Carly is fresh. She’s new.’
While speaking to reporters before jetting off to Fresno, Fiorina didn’t waste any time taking shots at her Democratic rival, Sen. Barbara Boxer.
“We have to create jobs, and the way to create jobs is by helping small business owners like the folks who own Keedy’s,” she said. “It’s not by continuing to waste taxpayer money on stimulus bills. We’ve got to cut government spending.”
“Barbara Boxer has been in Washington, D.C., for 28 years, and unfortunately she’s done nothing to help the people of California. That’s what people need to think about as they go to vote Tuesday.’
Fiorina’s only minor faux pas during the half-hour meet-and-greet at the diner came when she tried to talk to a young boy, there having breakfast with his parents, who was super jazzed about being Buzz Lightyear for Halloween.
“Wasn’t it Buzz Lightyear who said, ‘To the universe and beyond’?’ Fiorina asked.
The boy’s father quickly corrected her: “It’s ‘To infinity and beyond!’ ‘
-- Phil Willon in Palm Desert