WASHINGTON — Who's more liberal, Dianne Feinstein or Barbara Boxer?
If you think Boxer is more liberal, you're wrong.
At least according to Americans for Democratic Action, a liberal Washington group that ranks Washington politicians each year.
In 2009, the group said both senators were perfectly liberal, receiving scores of 100. But in 2008, Boxer received a score of 95 from the group, while Feinstein scored a 100.
The issue has become fodder in California's Senate race this year, with GOP nominee Carly Fiorina trying to draw distinctions between the two senators.
At a press conference in Washington on Tuesday, Fiorina blasted her opponent, Boxer, as a big-spending liberal, but she praised Feinstein's leadership.
"She has been a pragmatic voice on issues that matter to the people of California," Fiorina said. "And while I disagree with her on some things, if you look at her voting record versus Barbara Boxer's, you would find they disagree on virtually everything."
She quickly caught herself, saying, "Virtually everything is an overstatement," but she added: "There are a lot of examples where they're on very different pages." As examples, she said the senators have disagreed on military issues and free-trade agreements, among others.
That prompted a quick retort from Feinstein, who issued a statement saying she has worked with Boxer for 18 years as partners in Washington "and there is no daylight between us on the issues that matter most to Californians."
"We have worked together to create jobs and keep them in California," Feinstein said. "We have strongly defended a woman's right to choose. We believe that urgent action is necessary to halt climate change and create clean energy jobs, and we support permanently protecting California's coast from offshore oil drilling.... Let there be no doubt that I believe California needs Barbara Boxer in the Senate, now more than ever."
According to ADA, California and Oregon were the only states in the nation with two senators who received liberal scores of 100 in 2009. Sixteen of the 100 senators received the highest scores possible from the group and were called "ADA heroes."