The Boxer of My Choice is in My Corner

Barbara Boxer was my County Supervisor where I grew up and went to High School. That was before Marin County became famous for "Peacock Feathers and Hot Tubs." That was before a bunch of very rich idiots moved there from inclement climes and harsh winters back east and raised property values so much, us natives couldn't afford to live there anymore.

She's a liberal of the kind that means keeping an eye out for the little guy. That's why I'm happy she has recently taken Center Stage:

The first week of the session, Boxer led the Senate challenge over certification of the Ohio presidential vote, citing irregularities.

In the end, it was she alone standing against certification, with 74 of her colleagues - including Sen. Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and 33 other Democrats - favoring the count.

And last week, Boxer was all over Condoleezza Rice at her confirmation hearing to be President Bush's new secretary of state. Boxer all but called Rice a liar over her statements leading up to the war in Iraq as Bush's national security adviser.

Repeatedly, Rice appealed to Boxer to turn down the attacks.

"We can have this discussion in any way that you would like," Rice said. "But I really hope that you will refrain from impugning my integrity."

Boxer never relented, and she and Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, the Democrats' nominee against Bush in November, cast the only votes against sending Rice's nomination to the Senate floor.

Boxer said in an interview last week that she is not the new diva of demagoguery.

"I was just doing my job, like I've always done it before," she said.

Not only does she understand what it means to have a pair of big of brass ones, she can become the voice of the opposition we all desire; she has support from her kind of people - us Democrats that don't believe in carrying water for the Administration.

"There is a sense among a lot of Democrats that it is very important not to give Bush a free ride, at any point," she said.

In the interview, Boxer said she doesn't believe her November election margin changes anything, except to give her another Senate term that, as it happens, won't end until two years after Bush is out of office.

"I don't believe in mandates," she said.

"But what I do believe in is keeping promises to the people," she said. "I told them election night - and I didn't know how prophetic this was - that if I had to stand alone, I will do it. I am not afraid."

Go Barbara, we're behind you! And go visit this new blog: President Boxer!