WASHINGTON - When House Democrats needed just one senator to sign a challenge to Ohio's electoral votes, they knew who to ask — California's Barbara Boxer, among the fieriest liberals in a state full of them.
More than a decade after she led fellow congresswomen up the steps of the Senate to demand hearings into Anita Hill's sexual harassment claims against Clarence Thomas (news - web sites), Boxer staged her latest — and perhaps most dramatic — rebellion Thursday.
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"This was a hard decision, but I feel really good about this decision," she said. "We cannot keep turning our eyes away from a flawed system particularly as we have people dying in Iraq (news - web sites) every day to bring democracy to those people."
During more than a decade in the House and 12 years in the Senate, Boxer has taken on the Pentagon (news - web sites) over a $7,600 coffee pot, led opposition to the ban on what opponents call partial-birth abortion and opposed virtually all of Bush's major proposals.
She regularly splits votes with Democrat Dianne Feinstein, California's senior, and more popular, senator.
But the 64-year-old from Marin County just won re-election resoundingly to a third Senate term. Boxer faces little risk from California voters and voiced scant concern about the opposition she encountered from colleagues.
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