海角大神

Her gaze was steely, her answers articulate. And when Carly Fiorina was asked in Wednesday night鈥檚 GOP debate about a recent disparaging remark by Donald Trump about her appearance, she scored.

鈥淚 think women all over this country heard very clearly what Mr. Trump said,鈥� the former CEO of Hewlett Packard responded.

The billionaire came back with an attempt at damage control: 鈥淚 think she's got a beautiful face,鈥� Trump said, 鈥渁nd I think she's a beautiful woman.鈥�

In one quick exchange, Fiorina showed why she belonged on the main debate stage, putting Trump 鈥� the dominant force of the Republican presidential field 鈥� on the defensive in a way that none of his nine male opponents could.

The brouhaha over Trump鈥檚 comment about Fiorina has widened a fertile area of discussion in the 2016 presidential race: the role of women in politics. And Fiorina stands to benefit, as does Democratic standard-bearer Hillary Clinton, by bringing the special challenges women experience out into the open 鈥� and perhaps promoting understanding among voters.

It鈥檚 too soon to announce a Fiorina surge or the demise of Trump, but the race for the Republican nomination has clearly entered a new phase. Trump has been dinged; he failed to dominate the second debate the way he did the first, and that helps all the other Republican candidates, not just Fiorina.

The exchange at Wednesday's debate focused on聽 that quoted Trump saying about Fiorina: "Look at that face! Would anyone vote for that? Can you imagine that, the face of our next president?!"

When the story broke, Trump insisted he was speaking about her 鈥減ersona.鈥� But an outside group supporting Fiorina came back with a killer web ad that targeted Trump without uttering his name. The ad, called 鈥淟ook at this Face,鈥� features ordinary women鈥檚 faces and a made-to-order clip of Fiorina speaking at a Republican women鈥檚 event.

鈥淟ook at this face,鈥� Fiorina says. 鈥淭his is the face of a 61-year-old woman. I am proud of every year and every wrinkle.鈥�

Women have made slow but steady strides in American politics, but remain far from parity in elective office and have yet to crack the 鈥渉ighest, hardest glass ceiling,鈥� as Mrs. Clinton put it when she conceded the Democratic nomination to Barack Obama in 2008.

Fiorina, the only woman in this cycle鈥檚 16-person Republican field, has struggled to catch on in the 2016 race. But her strong performance in the first GOP 鈥渦ndercard鈥� debate (for the low performers in the polls) gave her enough of a boost in her numbers to earn a spot on the prime-time debate stage Wednesday night.

Republicans cheered Fiorina鈥檚 promotion. She鈥檚 in a unique position to go after both Trump and Clinton 鈥� and to counter the Democratic narrative that Republicans are engaging in a 鈥渨ar on women.鈥�

For instance, Fiorina scored big Wednesday night on a topic that many Democrats cast as part of the Republican war on women: abortion. She addressed the controversy around videotapes depicting Planned Parenthood鈥檚 use of tissue from aborted fetuses.

鈥淎s regards Planned Parenthood, anyone who has watched this videotape, I dare Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama to watch these tapes,鈥� Fiorina said, referring 鈥渢o a fully formed fetus on the table, its heart beating.鈥�

have called her characterization inaccurate.

The two most tweeted-about moments of the debate, according to Twitter, were two where her gender was relevant: Fiorina鈥檚 remark about Planned Parenthood and her response to Trump.

But there鈥檚 another aspect to Fiorina鈥檚 debate performance that bears mentioning. She barely cracked a smile the whole evening. And while Trump was exchanging high fives with the men who flanked him 鈥� Ben Carson, who has been surging of late, and Jeb Bush, who has been fighting Trump鈥檚 charges of 鈥渓ow energy鈥� 鈥� Fiorina was clearly the interloper in the GOP boys鈥� club.

Voters, perhaps subconsciously, hold women to different standards from men in campaigns, experts on women in politics say. Male candidates are allowed a fuller range of emotions in public than female candidates, making it that much harder for women to win office.

鈥淲omen face what some scholars call the 鈥榙ouble bind鈥�: You鈥檙e damned if you do, and damned if you don鈥檛,鈥� says Kristina Horn Sheeler, a professor of communications studies at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. 鈥淚f a woman candidate is too huggy or touchy, she runs the risk of being perceived as too feminine, too mother-like.鈥�

And if she goes in the opposite direction, she risks being called bossy or worse. In the presidential arena, the challenge for women candidates is particularly acute: Voters have to feel comfortable imagining that person appearing daily on their TV or computer screen for the next four years; a too-stern demeanor likely won't fly.聽

Fiorina鈥檚 other challenge 鈥� perhaps bigger than her gender 鈥� is her record at Hewlett Packard. CNN debate moderator Jake Tapper pointed out that she laid off tens of thousands of people and was ultimately fired.

Fiorina said she led HP 鈥渢hrough a very difficult time, the worst technology recession in 25 years.鈥�

But when Fiorina ran for the Senate in 2010, Arianna Packard, the granddaughter of the company鈥檚 founder, urged voters not to support her. 鈥淚 know a little bit about Carly Fiorina, having watched her almost destroy the company my grandfather founded,鈥� .

Now, five years later, a new Fiorina moment has arrived. And in a hard-fought and highly fluid Republican nomination race, Fiorina has earned a fresh look from American voters. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio also won kudos for his debate performance. Mr. Bush, the former governor of Florida, showed some energy and challenged Trump in a way that he didn鈥檛 in the first debate.

But the story of the night was Fiorina, not Trump, and the Republican establishment is heaving a sigh of relief.

[Editor's note: This story was updated at 12:30 p.m. Eastern time.]