Cara Carleton Sneed Fiorina has lived the American dream. She started as a secretary, rose through the ranks, and became the head of one of the world’s largest technology companies. As CEO of Hewlett-Packard, Fiorina engineered that company’s $19 billion merger with Compaq in 2002. A turbulent relationship with the board of directors, however, led to her dismissal only three years later.
Fiorina has definite political opinions, but not a well-formulated political vision. It is not clear what exactly she would do if elected.
Carly Fiorina speaks to potential donors in Paradise Valley, Arizona, May 13, 2015. Photo: Gage Skidmore (CC2.0)
Carly Fiorina
Stated priorities: reducing regulation and taxes on small businesses; arming Middle Eastern countries to fight the Islamic State
Current age: 60
Age on election day: 62Career path: secretary at a real-estate firm, executive at AT&T, CEO of Hewlett-Packard from 1999 to 2005, consultant to John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign
Marriages: 2
Children: 1 stepchild
Religion: general Protestant
Religious fervor: 0
Campaign funds: $
Skeletons in closet: ***
Clown factor: 0
Cuckoo factor: **
Ability to stretch the truth: ***
Distinguishing features: constantly reminds others that she is not Hillary Clinton
Best resembles: Cinderella’s stepmother in the Disney film
Gimmicky product: none
Campaign video
Why they won’t elect her
Fiorina’s only previous foray into the world of politics — a failed attempt to win the Senate seat of popular California Democrat Barbara Boxer in 2010 — was an example of biting off more than she could chew. Despite having a personal fortune of as much as $120 million, Fiorina held off paying her campaign staffers tens of thousands of dollars for at least four years and may still owe them money. Twelve of them told Reuters they would not work for her again.
Fiorina’s decision cost 30,000 workers their jobs
Fiorina’s opponents, at least those on the Democratic side, won’t let voters forget that the HP-Compaq merger caused the layoff of 30,000 American workers. Boxer accused Fiorina of tripling her salary and buying a million-dollar yacht while putting those employees out of work. HP’s board of directors said that Fiorina was fired (and given tens of millions of dollars in severance pay) because of her management style, which was often described as “imperious and distant”.
Fiorina takes the unpopular position that the government should not require companies to offer paid maternity leave — the US, Oman and Papua New Guinea are the only countries without such a mandate — nor that the government should legislate means to guarantee women’s equality in the workplace.
Despite what was perceived as a better showing than the other lower-tier candidates at the first official Republican debate, Fiorina has not been given very much media coverage and remains an unknown to a large percentage of voters.
Why they might
Like Donald Trump and Ben Carson, Fiorina is a total outsider with no experience in politics, which is a help in the early stages of this particular election. Fiorina says she knows more world leaders than any other candidate, with the possible exception of Hillary Clinton.
Fiorina says she knows more world leaders than the other candidates
Fiorina survived breast cancer in 2009, proving in addition to her professional battles that she is a fighter.
Seen over the long term, her decision to merge Hewlett-Packard and Compaq, though painful for all involved, may have been the right thing to do from the company’s point of view: HP was able to stay in business at a time when both companies were struggling.
In her own words
“We have arrived at a point in our nation’s history where the potential of this nation and too many Americans is being crushed by the weight, the power, the cost, the complexity, the ineptitude, the corruption of the federal government, and only someone who will challenge the status quo of Washington, DC can lead the resurgence of this great nation. I will do that.”
Best quote about her
“Carly Fiorina failed to register this domain. So I’m using it to tell you how many people she laid off at Hewlett-Packard.” (owner of carlyfiorina.org, May 2015)
Official website
https://www.carlyforpresident.com
Update, September 29: I’ve upgraded Fiorina’s rating under “ability to stretch the truth” from two stars to three, based on her remarks on various subjects at the second official Republican debate and afterwards.
