UPDATE: Polling released Tuesday afternoon has Boxer up on Fiorina, 49 percent to 45 percent.

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The two candidates vying for Dem. Senator Barbara Boxer's seat in the upcoming California midterms, GOP challenger Carly Fiorina and Boxer herself, so excited the San Francisco Chronicle's editorial board that they offered "no endorsement" in the race.

In fact, the Chronicle was appalled at having to choose between Boxer and Fiorina, writing: "Californians are left with a deeply unsatisfying choice for the U.S. Senate this year."

Boxer, who has served three terms already, and Fiorina, who moved from CEO of Hewlett-Packard to John McCain advisor to Republican Senate nominee, are neck and neck in the polls.  Rasmussen reports Boxer leading by four points, at 49 percent of likely voters to Fiorina's 45 percent.

So what are some of the fundamental differences between the candidates?

Both candidates have paid lip service to boosting the American economy through job creation.  Boxer told the Palm Springs Desert Sun that "Congress should put people back to work by encouraging clean-energy development and giving tax credits and loans to small businesses." 

In oversimplified terms, government investment.

Fiorina, however, "believes the most important thing Congress must do to put Americans back to work is create a friendly economic environment with tax and regulatory certainty that promotes job growth, minimizes the regulatory burden, and provides companies incentives to locate, manufacture and hire in the U.S." 

In oversimplified terms, deregulation of businesss.  Things are always more complicated than that, of course.  One example: Boxer has recently been running ads criticising Fiorina for employing foreign workers while CEO at HP.

Both candidates have stated their support for universal health care, but Fiorina disagrees with the path that Congress has taken to get there.  Talking about the recently passed health care reform law in last month's KPCC/La Opinion debate, Fiorina said: "What we have with this bill now is that people are being thrown off their health care plans, premiums are rising."

Boxer warned against a repeal of the law: "I don't want to go back to the days when thousands of people died ever day because they had no insurance."

Abortion has become a contentious issue between the candidates, with Boxer accusing Fiorina of supporting the overturn of Roe v. Wade.  Though Fiorina dismissed the idea as preposterous, Boxer said: "[Overturning Roe v. Wade] means that women and doctors could be put in jail in any state of the union," Boxer said. "That is a fact."

In its scathing "no endorsement" piece, the Chronicle warned voters that the election offers "a dismal choice between an ineffective advocate for causes we generally support and a potentially strong advocate for positions we oppose."

It's clear, however, that the differences between the two candidates are great.  Neon Tommy will continue to explore them during the run-up to the Nov. 2 vote.