Fiorina's new Web site bashed by Democrats, Republicans

[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/09/24/art.carlyforcalifornia.com.jpg caption="Carly Fiorina's Web site went live on Monday."]WASHINGTON (CNN) - As former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina prepares to enter the 2010 California Senate race on the GOP side, her quirky new Web site is being ridiculed by the online community - and not just by those on the political left.

Republicans are also snickering about her bare-bones site, CarlyforCalifornia.com, which launched Monday and welcomes visitors with an animation describing a potential showdown between Fiorina and Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer in curious terms.

"It's Day and Night," the bright red Web site reads. "It's Dogs and Cats. It's Good and Bad. It's Carly vs. Boxer."

After hinting that the Republican's official entry into the race is "coming soon," the animation concludes with a pun: "Carlyfornia dreamin!!!"

The left leaning Huffington Post called the site "really the most insufferable thing she's ever done in her life." Democrats on Twitter bashed the as site "embarrassingly awful" and told Fiorina to scale back her use of exclamation points. And a YouTube video mocking the site has so far eclipsed 15,000 views.

But several Web-savvy Republicans are also taking aim.

"It's the most singularly awful political website I have ever seen, and I am including all the old, basic HTML websites that were the rage 10 years ago," conservative blogger John Hawkins of the site RightWingNews.com said in an e-mail to CNN. "Why not toss in G.I. Joe vs. Cobra, Ninjas vs. Pirates, and Kennedy versus Kruschev if it's going to be a goofy joke? There's very little information on it to appeal to voters."

Blogger Dan Riehl joked about the site's color: "It made me think I had been re-directed to Macy's."

"Wheres the beef?," Riehl asked. "It's not on that Web site ... If I were a high school senior and I designed that Web site, I would be extremely proud."

Several of Fiorina's GOP critics are conservative activists who support her primary opponent, California Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, who has carved out a position on the party's right.

Erick Erickson of the influential conservative blog RedState, for instance, is encouraging his readers to donate to DeVore and three other conservative GOP candidates in 2010 Senate primaries around the country. He also criticized Fiorina's site, writing that DeVore has been active on Twitter and Facebook, while Fiorina's site had "non-functional links to both services" when it launched.

But Scott Graves, an Orange County-based conservative blogger and new media consultant, claimed the site's problems are basic. He said it lacks crucial tools that helped the Obama campaign "set a higher standard for features, functionality, design, and the role of community in online initiatives."

Graves called the site "amateur" and said it fails to provide the kind of basic information about the candidate and issues that might make a reader want to get involved with the campaign.

"The fact that this was approved by the communications team, and perhaps the candidate herself, indicates a severe misunderstanding about the direction and role of online political communication," Graves said in an e-mail.

Beth Miller, a spokeswoman for Fiorina, said the new site is "a splash page only and is part of her exploratory effort." Miller did not directly address critics on the right side of the political spectrum.

"We were amused at the frenzy a splash page for an unannounced candidate generated and are appreciative of The Huffington Post and other left wing blogs for driving traffic to the page," she said in an e-mail. "Clearly, Barbara Boxer is vulnerable and the Democrats know it and are worried."