Fiorina rises, but record at HP might hurt candidacy
How do we tell? How can we know if ascendant-candidate-du-jour Carly Fiorina is Jimmy Carter 1976 (relatively unknown underdog who actually won the White House) or Howard Dean 2004 (relatively unknown underdog whose early success ended in screaming flameout)?
History and odds tell us Fiorina will turn out to be more Dean than Carter, but we live in odd times when, for now, coming from outside puts a candidate on the inside track.
With that in mind, I headed to San Antonio on Sunday to see Austin-native Fiorina speak at what was ostensibly a nonpolitical event. Though nothing these days is nonpolitical, not even the afternoon happy hour at the National Women’s Business Conference hosted by the National Association of Women Business Owners.
“Let’s face it, women, girls, ladies, we’re not always given the presumption of competence, are we? We have to prove it every day,” Fiorina told the crowd in a Marriott River-center ballroom that wasn’t quite properly prepped for the event (more on that later).
She gave a standard outsider’s stump speech about what’s wrong with politics and government. And she was characteristically feisty in response to an audience question about her bona fides for leading the military.
“Let me say — news flash — I’ve been competing with the big boys all my life,” she said. “In fact, this is more of a unique experience for them than it is for me so don’t you worry about that.”
“Yes, I’m plenty tough enough to be commander-in-chief,” she said, wrapping up the answer and drawing big cheers.
Fiorina got solid response at the event at a time when she is drawing increased scrutiny of her business career, a controversial cornerstone of her White House bid.
“It is only in this country that a young woman can start out typing and filing and answering the phones, go on to lead the largest technology company in the world and run for president of the United States,” she said, drawing whoops of approval.
Yes, in no other country can a young woman of humble beginnings run for president of the United States.
Fiorina’s tenure at Hewlett-Packard has not had the fine-toothcomb treatment it’s now getting. Though she stump-speeches it as a shining record of success, Yale School of Management Senior Associate Dean Jeffrey Sonnenfeld is among the highly credible folks who have concluded Fiorina’s HP stint was a disaster.
“I have studied her business record, challenged her leadership abilities and have come to agree with the assess- ment that she was one of the worst technology CEOs in history,” Sonnenfeld wrote recently in Politico. “In order to overcome her business past, Fiorina must acknowledge her setbacks and show the American people what she has learned. She needs to display contrition and earn redemption.”
Fiorina is passing on Sonnenfeld’s advice. But she is realistic, though satisfied, with where her campaign is at this early juncture.
“A lot of people still don’t know who I am and that I’m running for president,” she said Sunday.
About 15 minutes into her remarks, a large curtain, maybe 30 feet high, held up by tall metal poles behind her, began to slowly and inexplicably wave. As if in slow motion, the curtain and polls collapsed rather spectacularly, causing confusion and concern in Salon E.
Two women standing behind Fiorina shielded her as the scene played out. Nobody was hurt, and the event went on. Somebody in the audience yelled that Donald Trump might have been responsible for the curtain collapse.
“OK,” Fiorina joked. “Trump, Hillary — it could have been lots of people.”
Funny, yes. Now we’ll have to wait to see if the Fiorina campaign collapses under the weight of her own record.