GOP presidential candidate Carly Fiorina is winning.
After her outstanding performance at the undercard GOP debate in August, Fiorina has caught the attention of the Republican Party and currently stands only behind Donald Trump in the recently released CNN poll.
So much of Fiorina’s appeal lies in that she’s an outsider from the typical career politician narrative — an experienced business leader with steely poise and an ability to stay on message.
But with higher poll numbers comes more scrutiny from voters while she’s in the spotlight, and Fiorina’s whole candidacy has been riding on her qualifications as CEO of Hewlett-Packard.
And as California voters know all too well, Fiorina’s time at HP was disastrous.
It’s the reason Fiorina lost the 2010 California senate race to incumbent senator Barbara Boxer during a year Republicans won big nationwide, according to Boxer when she was quoted by the Los Angeles Times.
That’s because when you run for office, your biggest liability probably shouldn’t be mutated into an asset — yet Fiorina has managed to do exactly that.
CNN moderator Jake Tapper prodded Fiorina during last week’s Republican debate.
He asked her to respond to widespread criticism regarding her tenure at HP — the centerpiece of it being the $24.2 billion merger with Compaq Computer that Fiorina oversaw and was subsequently fired for after mismanaging it.
According to the New York Times, her tenure included the lay-off of 30,000 workers while she led the company from 1999 to 2005.
On top of it all, Fiorina ushered in an era of corporate controversy at HP by publicly clashing with members of the Hewlett family.
She left with a golden parachute of $42 million in severance with stock options and a pension after being publicly fired by HP’s board. All in all, her time as CEO is seen as rocky at best and, at worst, destructive.
That’s why Fiorina will never be president.
She might be the flavor of the month for Republican pollsters, but her candidacy is bound to flop a la Scott Walker or Rand Paul, especially as more and more people begin to focus on candidates’ records.
After the sound bites and the zingers go off the air, Fiorina has little to stand on. It might explain why California voters rightfully rejected her in 2010.
However, a gig at Fox or some other conservative outlet wouldn’t be too bad after 2016 is said and done — especially given her widely praised communication skills.
It all comes down to how long Fiorina can keep it up. The Republican nomination process is proving to be quite a show and Fiorina’s spin machine is already going.
But no matter how she frames it or tries to repaint it, she can’t run away from something of her own making: her record.
edsalas@indiana.edu
