The Hill News

Carly Fiorina, the Republican challenging Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) in November, told the GOP faithful this weekend that, if voters send her to Washington, she plans to fight for congressional term limits â€" 12 years maximum for both senators and House members.

"Changing Washington starts with changing the people we send there," Fiorina said Saturday to supporters gathered in San Diego for the state GOP convention. "We must not only put a limit on how long people can serve in Washington, but also end the system of guaranteed re-election once they get there. 

"A system where politicians make back-room deals to ensure their eternal re-election and the re-election of their buddies in Congress isn’t one that serves the interests of the people they we! re elected to represent."

Fiorina, the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, said she would limit her own congressional tenure to 12 years, even if her term-limit plan is never adopted. 

It's hardly a new theme. Since winning the GOP nomination in June, Fiorina has portrayed Boxer â€" who's vying for her fourth Senate term â€" as a Washington insider who's lost touch with her constituents' everyday lives and needs.

Boxer, for her part, has countered that Fiorina's views are far to the right of most Californians, particularly on issues like abortion rights and environmental protection.

The Cook Political Report, a prominent election handicapper, rates the Boxer/Fiorina contest a toss-up.