Last night I finished strong in a one hour debate with Tom Campbell and Carly Fiorina (to be broadcast Sunday morning — we’ll send you the media analysis when it comes in).

But I wanted to take a moment to type out some of my thoughts on the day’s news and provide you with an update on my campaign.

If you didn’t hear, Sarah Palin posted a Facebook message earlier yesterday about the California Republican primary.

She bashed Tom Campbell.

She tried to ignore me.

And she announced her support of Carly Fiorina.

She called Fiorina a “commonsense conservative” and said Fiorina is “the only conservative in the race who can beat Barbara Boxer.”

I like Sarah Palin. I think highly of her. But she got this dead wrong.

Carly Fiornia is NOT a conservative.

And she is certainly NOT the only candidate in the race who can beat Barbara Boxer.

Let me address each of those issues with some cold, hard facts.

Is Carly Fiorina a conservative?

• She supported the Wall Street bailouts.
• She supported Cap and Trade.
• She supported the confirmation of Sonia Sotomayer.
• She has criticized the new Arizona immigration law.
• Before she was fired as the CEO of Hewlett-Packard, she allowed the company to sell technology to Iran.
• And last year when liberal Democrats and moderate Republicans were trying to push through a massive tax increase in a California referendum, Carly Fiorina had “no comment.”
• I call her a “John McCain Republican” – she talks the talk from time to time and says she’s a conservative but she has a “never with us when it counts” record just like McCain.

Don’t get me wrong, if a liberal Republican like Tom Campbell or a moderate Republican like Carly Fiorina win the primary instead of me, I will support them against Barbara Boxer.

But there’s no need to make a compromise like that.

This is not a primary election where electability needs to be a factor.

Again, let me offer the cold hard facts.

Here’s the most recent polling numbers from the independent Rasmussen poll.

• Fiorina 38% – Boxer 42%
• DeVore 39% – Boxer 42%
• Campbell 41% – Boxer 43%

The margin of error in the poll was 4.5%.

That means Fiornia is statistically tied with Boxer.

So am I (actually one point better than Fiorina).

And so is Tom Campbell.

There is literally no difference at all in how we are performing against Boxer.

The fact is Boxer has been mired in the mid-to-low 40s for more than a year.

Whether it’s her abrasive politics, her leading role in Cap and Trade, the way California Democrats have run the state into the ground, the way Washington Democrats are running the country into the ground, the “Can you call me Senator?” episode, or something else, the fact is Barbara Boxer is going to have a very difficult time winning re-election this year.

So the choice before the California primary voters isn’t who can beat Boxer…

…it’s which Republican candidate best represents your values.

• Is it Tom Campbell, the “Nelson Rockefeller Republican” who supported the largest tax increase in history at the state level, a 32-cent gas tax increase, and is liberal on social issues?
• Is it Carly Fiorina, the “John McCain Republican” who claims she is a conservative but has a never with us when it counts record of support for the bailouts, for cap and trade, and for the confirmation of liberal Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor?
• Or is it me, Chuck DeVore, a “Ronald Reagan Republican” who has a proven, conservative record on taxes, on spending, on social issues, and on defense?

I believe it’s vitally important to California and America’s future that we get Barbara Boxer out of the Senate…

…but I also believe it’s just as important we replace her with a true conservative who will faithfully hold strong to the Founding Father’s vision of a limited government

My record is clear.

I have a proven voting record in the California State Assembly that has earned me several “Legislator of the Year” awards from conservative organizations.

I was a Reagan White House appointee in the Pentagon and I’m a Lt. Col. in the U.S. Army Reserve.

And I was against the bailouts, against cap and trade, and against the confirmation of Sonia Sotomayer. I support the Arizona immigration law. And when California Republican moderates tried to raise taxes I resigned my leadership position in protest.

My record has earned me support from conservatives like:

*** Senator Jim DeMint’s “Senate Conservative Fund”
*** Governor Mike Huckabee’s “HuckPAC”
*** Congressman Tom McClintock (R-CA)
*** Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA)
*** Congressman Jeff Flake (R-AZ)
*** The Tea Party Express
*** Citizens United PAC
*** Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association PAC
*** And more than 60% of California’s Republican elected officials.

Media commentators Glenn Beck, George Will, Andrew Breitbart, and Mark Levin have all identified me as the true conservative candidate in this race.

I’m not going to lie to you, I would have liked Sarah Palin’s endorsement, too (and I look forward to getting it after I win the primary).

But the support I most need and want is yours.

If you live in California, I need your vote on June 8th.

And no matter where you live, I urgently need your immediate financial support.

Based on the Facebook and Twitter comments, it seems a lot of Sarah’s supporters weren’t very happy about her decision to support Carly.

To those of you who are looking for a strong, tried-and-true conservative who can win in November, I invite you to join my team right now.

I need your help.

Click this link right now to make a donation and help me win this primary. Any amount you can give, even if it’s just $5, will make an immediate difference.

I am the REAL conservative who can win this primary and defeat Barbara Boxer.

But I can’t do it by myself.

I need the help of conservatives like you. And I need it right now.

So please don’t delay. Click this link right now and help me, the “Ronald Reagan Conservative,” win the Republican primary.

All the best,

Chuck DeVore
State Assemblyman (R-CA)
Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army Reserve