BOXER VS. FONG: Tough Ads Motor Boxer To A Nine-Point Lead

      New polls show Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), who a short time ago was "fighting for her political life" against State Treasurer Matt Fong (R), with a "commanding" nine-point lead less than a week before the election. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that only three weeks ago, Boxer was trailing Fong by four points before "nonstop campaigning, combined with a multimillion-dollar ad campaign" emphasizing Fong's positions on abortion, gun control and the environment vaulted her into the lead (Wildermuth, 10/29). The Sacramento Bee reports that Boxer leads 51% to 42%, with 7% of voters undecided (Capps, 10/29). The poll was taken among a representative sample of 1,012 registered voters, with a margin of error of four percentage points. Field Poll Director Mark DiCamillo said, "Boxer spent millions of dollars in ads trying to move Fong off the (political) center and portray him as someone of the right. Before, the focus was all on Boxer. Now, she has shifted the spotlight to Fong." The poll numbers hold "virtually no good news for Fong": for the first time, more men back Boxer; she holds a greater lead among self- identified liberals than he does among conservatives; and "middle-of-the-road voters support the Democratic incumbent by a nearly 2-to-1 margin." DiCamillo said the Boxer lead "is not a result of the current flap over Fong's" contribution to the Traditional Values Coalition, as she took the lead before the controversy erupted (10/29).