Yesterday, Red State kicked up a bit of a dust storm in California with a post contending that Carly Fiorina, the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard who is a potential Republican Senate candidate, would not be self-funding her bid.

A California Republican once explained to me that because the state’s unions have such enormous resources, Democrats in statewide races start off with gargantuan advantages. The state GOP tends to fall in love with any candidate who can write their campaigns large checks out of their personal fortunes, a trend this Republican found troubling and unlikely to generate inspiring political leadership.

So is Fiorina self-funding? Yes and no, it seems. Her camp says she’s going to contribute “an undetermined amount” to her campaign, but won’t self-finance like GOP gubernatorial candidates Meg Whitman and Steve Poizner.

Interestingly, it seems that the Democrats are preparing for Boxer to take on Fiorina, and expecting her to self-finance: “Without mentioning the leading potential GOP challenger by name, Biden suggested that Carly Fiorina could pose a threat to the Democratic incumbent with the huge personal fortune she built as Hewlett Packard’s chief executive.”