Carly Fiorina vs. Barbara Boxer in 2010?

Garden Grove - Hoping to take on Sen. Barbara Boxer next November, former Hewlett-Packard chief executive Carly Fiorina announced today that she would run for the Republican nomination.

Fiorina characterized Boxer as an ineffective, partisan lawmaker who managed to get only three pieces of law enacted in her 18 years -- one was naming a river in Virginia, naming a courthouse in Fresno and getting funding for seismic retrofitting in the Bay Area.

Fiorina joked that maybe Boxer has been too busy writing novels, referring to the two books she has written.

"Let's say we give Barbara Boxer the chance next year to be a full-time novelist," she said, speaking at a town hall meeting in Garden Grove at Earth Friendly Products.

Fiorina, who advised Arizona Sen. John McCain in his bid for president, announced in a op-ed article published in the Orange County Register that she would challenge Irvine-area Assemblyman Chuck DeVore for the Republican nomination.

Fiorina's graying hair was recently cut short after months of chemotherapy for breast cancer.

"Let me start with the most obvious question of all, `What's with the hair?' " she said shortly after taking the stage in front of about 150 supporters and workers.

She then declared: "Breast cancer is officially behind me. I feel great."

Addressing illegal immigration, Fiorina said:

"First, we have to secure the border. Second, we have to have a temporary worker program that works, and that means everyone from farm workers to college students who come here from abroad... Immigration is the heartbeat of this nation. I believe we are strengthened by our diversity."

On gay marriage, she said she "believes in the sanctity of a marriage between a man and a woman," but favors equal benefits for homosexuals through civil unions.

At the town hall meeting, she didn't mention DeVore. He has characterized the primary race as one between a conservative -- himself -- and a centrist.

"It will add to a valuable discussion on the future of the Republican Party in this state," DeVore said. "Do we stand on the principles of limited government and our constitutional rights or do we stand for `Make it up as you go along' pragmatism?"

DeVore claimed Fiorina backed the federal economic stimulus legislation and the Troubled Assets Relief Program that bailed out Wall Street last year.

"She backed the bailout on Wall Street and the corporate welfare of the stimulus package and she has no opinion on Obamacare, which I find remarkable," DeVore said.

Fiorina addressed only domestic issues, touching on foreign policy only when asked about her positions on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. She said she favored reducing troops in Iraq, but only when it's safe, and objects to an "arbitrary time line" for withdrawal. She said she backed Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal's proposed troop surge in Afghanistan.

Boxer's campaign manager attacked Fiorina's record as a chief executive.

"The last thing we need in Washington is someone who was named worst CEO, laid off 28,000 workers and shipped jobs overseas," Rose Kapolczynski said.

Fiorina was Hewlett-Packard's chief executive from 1999 until 2005, overseeing its merger with Compaq. Her severence package from HP totaled about $21.5 million. Before that, she was an executive at AT&T and Lucent Technologies.

Fiorina advocated cutting spending and easing government regulations for businesses to stimulate the economy. She also signed a pledge to vote against any tax increases.

She claimed about $500 billion in fraud and waste could be eliminated from the federal budget.

Fiorina said she was unafraid of taking on Boxer, who won her latest election by a wide margin.

"I have to say, after chemotherapy, Barbara Boxer's not so scary," she said.

Fiorina was critical of health care legislation, especially the public option. But after her battle with cancer, she said she was especially mindful of the need for some sort of reform.

Fiorina did not shy away from criticism for not voting over the years.

"I'm not proud of my voting record and I have no excuses," Fiorina said. "Shame on me."

For years, she said she didn't think her vote mattered. But, over the years, she said she came to understand how what happens in Washington, D.C., affects the country.

"People are dying for our right to vote; so shame on me," she said.

She defended her time at Hewlett-Packard, saying she steered the company through the dot-com bust and successfully oversaw the Compaq merger. She blamed her ouster on a couple of enemies on the board of directors and said they were forced to resign a year later.

Though she had to cut jobs at H-P, she said merger resulted in a net gain in jobs.