In California, be sure to tune into C-SPAN tonight at 10:00 PM ET to watch the first debate between millionaire Barbara Boxer and Republican Carly Fiorina.  The Associated Press previews tonight’s debate:

Fiorina has characterized Boxer as a free-spending liberal who promotes Democratic policies that have hampered California’s recovery. She has criticized the $862 billion federal stimulus program as doing too little to create private-sector jobs, and has tried to pound the message home as California’s unemployment rate has persisted above 12 percent.  Fiorina says she would reduce the federal deficit, cut regulatory red tape and promote tax credits for businesses that she says will promote hiring.  “You don’t need to pay for tax cuts. They pay for themselves if they are targeted because they create jobs,” she said during a July interview on KCBS radio in San Francisco.

While TIME reports that Fiorina is giving Boxer the challenge of her political life, and winning over the Golden State’s Independent voters:

To challenge one of the most liberal of Senators, the GOP has the high-octane former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina. Both candidates abhor the mushy political center. But victory, as is often the case, depends on independent voters. If Fiorina is to claim one of the nation’s bluest states, she must win over independents, who have more or less supported Boxer in the past. That may just be happening. A new Rasmussen poll shows the race is a dead heat (Boxer 45% to Fiorina 44%) among likely voters. In early August, Boxer led by 5 points… Fiorina has the advantage of an anti-incumbency mood that has been enhanced by the Golden State’s alarming 12.3% unemployment rate. At the recent state GOP convention in San Diego, Fiorina offered a slashing indictment of Boxer, blaming the Democrats for the economic disaster. “In our beautiful state, there is a steady, grinding injustice where the failed policies of Washington’s ruling class have smothered hopes in the lives of hundreds of thousands of people – losing jobs, losing homes, destroying businesses.”