Chuck DeVore is still an unknown to most Californians, and Carly Fiorina is only slightly more recognized.  However, it seems that amongst Republican right-wingers, Chuck DeVore might as well be Madonna; they just love him.

Tea party activists are also lining up behind challengers to GOP establishment-backed Senate candidates in Colorado and Connecticut. In California, former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina – like Crist, another National Republican Senatorial Committee-favored Senate contender – is the target of tea party animus in her primary against conservative state Assemblyman Chuck DeVore.

“My impression is that the support among tea partyers for DeVore is high,” said Mark Meckler, a California-based organizer for Tea Party Patriots. “I hear nothing but praise for the guy.”  (Politico)

Now, you have to separate the two tea party factions. You have the faction that is run by the rich and powerful, that one is led by my former congressman, Dick Armey.  But however they are bringing these folks, there is another part of it, that is pretty much your old Republican grassroots. Not much has really changed here, but some of the branding.  So, the right-wingers are all abuzz with the hunk of burning electability that is Chuck DeVore.  In case you don’t know much about him, perhaps we should trust those who know him best, the right-wingers: He’s a far right ideologue. Surely that will sway California’s center-left electorate.

Meanwhile over in Camp Carlyfornia, we have Carly’s turn to get beaten up with the facts that she isn’t particularly interested in voting.  Fiorina has a stunning 5 for 18 record since 2000.  Clearly, she believes in civic engagement.

But don’t worry, she’s found an issue that she can use to curry favor with the base: West Central Valley water. Carlyfornia’s op-ed in the Fresno Bee takes the Sean Hannity line, you know the one where farmers rool and fisherman drool! Boooooo salmon!!

The logic of the editorial is truly stunning though.

Common sense would tell us that it shouldn’t take an act of Congress to put the urgent needs of people ahead of a small fish. Apparently it does. … Congress tried to act the week before my visit to the Valley, however, Senate Democrats — led by Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer — defeated a California water amendment offered by South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint. This amendment should be reconsidered and approved. (FresnoBee)

The DeMint (R-South Carolina) amendment would have banned water diversions from farms in the state of California for the purposes of saving endangered species. Never mind that even Sen. Feinstein thinks this is none of his business, the fact is that ignoring one fish isn’t really the way to solve important problems. It is this kind of short-term thinking: use whatever resources we have at hand, that has led us to the dangerous situation with climate change.

I recommend that Carlyfornia take a look at the story of DDT in Borneo.  You soon begin to realize that nature is a delicate balance. You can’t simply take out one player and expect the house of cards to remain in place.  In the case of Borneo, DDT was used to reduce malaria, but ended up creating a series of local extinctions that threatened the way of life of Borneo. In the end, the WHO had to airlift cats into the island to save the ecosystem and the way of life for real human beings there.

But, what would a CEO really need to know about systemic analysis. I mean, the Compaq deal went great, right?