A 2003 study listed Fiorina as the top example of CEOs who saw big raises while laying off thousands of workers.
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The 5pm TV debate itself had been mortifying and boring in equal measure, thanks to patronising Fox News hosts. 2016 is going to be a fight between conservatism, and a Democrat party that is undermining the very character of this nation.
When asked by The Daily Caller at the Red State Gathering if she was concerned that Trump could be a distraction for her should she make it to the main debate stage with him in the future, Fiorina seemed undeterred from her response. So she made the best of the opportunity she had. “You’re not going to get it”.
While the target was Hillary, few in the room missed that Fiorina’s “stumble before he even gets into the ring” line was directed at Jeb Bush and his recent rhetorical missteps. In general, Republican voters like their candidates to focus on defeating Clinton – as opposed to, say, bickering with each other.
But she was more than clever, proceeding to call out Trump for his ever-changing political record.
Perry entered the forum with more to prove than anyone.
Republican activists and donors said Fiorina, whose campaign and allied Super PAC lagged in the Republican money chase with a combined $4.8 million raised at the end of June, should quickly see financial benefits from her performance. She followed a halting and seemingly nervous answer by Texas Gov. Rick Perry with a fluid riff on why she was running and how she was best positioned to beat Hillary Clinton. Of inspector-general reports that some federal employees spend much of their time on the job watching pornography, she quipped: “As Donald Trump would say, you’re fired”.
“We need to tear down cyber walls not on a mass basis, but on a targeted basis”, she said relating to the threat posed by homegrown jihadists.
Asked about Trump – who will be center stage later tonight – Perry took a swing. I would just observe what others have observed, many in the media have observed – I am the person who most consistently goes after Hillary Clinton.
Later, someone else asked the question a little differently.
-Fiorina gave one of the debate’s strongest answers in addressing the lack of coalition support in the Middle East, criticizing the Obama administration for failing to assist allied forces and governments there. If Iran refuses (and it is hard to imagine many countries granting foreigners full access to all their military bases), Ms Fiorina wants America to make it “as difficult as possible” for Iran to move money around the global financial system.
The former Hewlett-Packard Co chief executive, who badly lost a 2010 Senate bid in California, told reporters in Atlanta she did not plan any big changes in her approach after the debate. He isn’t the only prominent politico whose admiration Fiorina secured; immediately after the debate, Chris Wallace and George Will both gave her rave reviews.
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In her first campaign stop since, the admitted longshot candidate – she has never held public office – embraced the prospect of new momentum for her underfunded campaign. “I think he’s tapped into an anger that people feel, who are sick of politics as usual.”.
