The story came up as a response as candidates were debating the legalization of marijuana. “I’m running to be president”.
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Many in the Republican establishment fervently hope a more traditional candidate would benefit from a Trump slide.
But it was Trump who was Fiorina’s best foil.
“Buzz tends to turn on the money spigot, and she’s clearly getting a lot of buzz out of last night”, said Ken Kies, a longtime Republican bundler and lobbyist.
A testy exchange near the end of the first hour of debate between Trump and Florida governor Jeb Bush gave Fiorina her first big opening. Instead, they found themselves facing a new insurgent – Fiorina, in her first debate with top-tier candidates.
Hubbard is part of a network of top-flight donors organized by Charles and David Koch, who surprisingly extended an invitation to Fiorina to address their millionaires as an exclusive conference this summer.
“People said Carly Fiorina was right on point and sounded like a victor , sounded like a president”, Nan Hayworth said. “Drug addiction is an epidemic, and it is taking too many of our young people“. While Trump is using his own money to fund his campaign, neither Carson nor Fiorina have been able to leverage their grassroots popularity into large-scale fundraising.
Going into Wednesday’s debate at the Reagan Presidential Library, Fiorina and her opponents had very likely been warned by handlers, consultants and researchers galore that the on-stage gender dynamics would be hard to navigate. Aggression, alpha-male behavior and attacking one’s competition can be good for male candidates. Fiorina began by defending her time at HP as guiding the technology giant through “the worst technology recession in 25 years” and pointed to the company’s growth under her leadership. At the same time, female candidates often have to appear more competent and less emotional to be seen as viable or reasonable election prospects. And she stood up to the incessant bullying and bluster of fellow Republican hopeful Donald Trump, prompting him to compliment her on her “beautiful face”.
“I wouldn’t talk with Vladimir Putin at all“, Fiorina said at the CNN Republican debate.
At one point, she got into a fracas with Trump over her record at Hewlett-Packard and also lectured him about the U.S. Constitution. “Look at that face”, Trump had said in the interview. Others seemed determined to insert moments of audience participation – New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s introductory statement called for a show of hands – or levity.
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Many political pundits had predicted that Bush and other establishment candidates would try to reassert control at Wednesday’s second Republican presidential debate. Fiorina and Trump vigorously defended their business records, and Christie admonished them both for reviewing their resumes when many Americans continue to struggle to find and maintain work. But her supporters – along with top, unaligned GOP fundraisers – say the narrative is about to change.
