Carly Fiorina: From the Background to the Spotlight

“Thou Shall Not Speak Ill of any Fellow Republican” –Ronald Reagan

This phrase, commonly referred to as the ‘Eleventh Commandment’, used by Ronald Reagan has done well by Carly Fiorina. Carly Fiorina was the CEO of Hewlett-Packard and is now a front running GOP candidate for the 2016 Presidential elections. August 6^th, Fiorina participated in the GOP debate but failed to qualify for the prime-time debate slot. However, this did not set her back because she stole the show and the news and media were buzzing about her strong performance. Even after the prime-time debate aired, which was filled with heated debates, snarky remarks and widely talked about policies, Fiorina was still talked among those leading candidates as well. There was another GOP debate and Fiorina was the only person from the first time slot in the previous debate to make it to the prime-time debate. Her ratings increased at a significant and noticeable rate and she was noticed at that second debate and in a good way. But what made Carly Fiorina stand out from the other Republicans on stage?

It wasn’t just her stances on certain hot topics, such as being pro-life, opposing legalization of marijuana, and criticizing the Iran deal because while these are popular stances they are common among the other Republican candidates as well. I think there are two very strong reasons that make her a strong contender for being a top Republican candidate and contribute to her rising in the ratings/polls. 

The first reason being that she is a woman, but a respected and seemingly trust worthy woman. The advocacy for women’s rights is on the rise and she has shown that women can do anything men can do (as cliché as that sounds). What brings her to the next level is that she doesn’t advocate the “gender card” and try to use it to her advantage. She doesn’t try to appeal to the public just because she is a woman and a woman deserves to be President. She being humble and promoting gender equality, not female superiority, has helped her tremendously among votes and in the polls. She doesn’t want to be seen as the ‘woman candidate’ and doesn’t want the other male Republican candidates to treat her differently. She’s even been quotes saying “It’s not about your gender, it’s about what you believe, what your accomplishments are…what your leadership is”. However, she is not the only woman running for President so this alone is not enough to make her stand out. There is Hillary Clinton who is also running for President meaning this is not unique to only Carly and she is already standing out above Hillary because she is not the center of scandal. Yes, every candidate will have negative things about them in the media along with scandals and rumors. Fortunately for Carly, compared to her female competitor Hillary, she is much more trust worthy and the American people yearn for a President they can trust. Hillary is the spot light of having illegal email, divulging classified information and accused of committing federal crimes. You can see anywhere how the public’s trust of the government has decreased sense Obama has come into office and being that Hillary has so much scandal and issues BEFORE even being elected, it will come to light that the American people will voice how they don’t feel she is trustworthy.  Carly is seen as more trustworthy and that goes a long way with the American people. 

The second and main reason Carly stands out, especially in the last debate, is that she strays away from the pettiness of gossip, trash talking and tries to avoid speaking negatively about other Republican candidates. She carries herself in a respectful and poise manner and that had the opposite effect that what was expected. She shone brightly on that stage and people talked about her and in a good way. It may seem like you have to fight for attention and say whatever is necessary, even at other candidates expense, to stay in the media spotlight but Carly proved that to not be true. Donald Trump is known for speaking his mind and not shying away from being blunt about candidates. Carly Fiorina was no exception when it came to negative remarks made by Trump. In the previous GOP debate, on live television she was asked to respond to Donald Trump’s comment, “Look at the face! Would anyone vote for that?...” It would have been very easy for her to have a spiteful comment back and roast him on national television but she took the high road and simply said I think women all over this country heard very clearly what Mr. Trump said” and the applause from the crowd erupted. Her comment clearly stumped trump because he didn’t have a typical Trump style rebuttal. That single moment might have just been the most important so far in her candidate race. I can surely say I noticed her after that and I thought it was a great response. Candidates all night were firing jabs and remarks towards other and it even got a bit juvenile at one point. Carly was able to hold her head high and stay respectful and that made her stand out. Like Ronald Reagan said, “Thou Shall Not Speak Ill of any Fellow Republican”. 

I think this comes to show how respect, dignity and how you carry yourself goes a long way with the American people and fighting for the spotlight at the expense of another person is not the only way to gain media attention. Fiorina strayed away from that and still got attention, positive attention at that and an immense amount of support from men, women republicans and even those typically associated with other political parties.

See a clip here of Fiorina’s response to Trump http://www.mediaite.com/tv/carly-fiorina-gets-wild-applause-for-response-to-trumps-face-attack/

See her ratings for the polls here: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/elections/2016/presidential-election-headquarters

And if you just want to read about her campaign, you can visit her site to keep up https://carlyforpresident.com/