Was Carly Fiorina real debate winner?
The GOP presidential hopeful who benefited most from yesterday鈥檚 debates might be ex-Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina.
To this early point in the race Ms. Fiorina has had a tough run. She鈥檚 impressed audiences at town halls, dinners, and other small gatherings across the early voting states, but that hasn鈥檛 translated into actual support. According to the rolling average, right now she鈥檚 tied for 13th with Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal with a mere 1.3 percent of the Republican primary vote.
But that might have worked to her advantage. Relegated to the early debate, the undercard, by Fox News on Aug. 6, Fiorina shone. This might have been easy given that the other contenders seemed a bit dispirited, as if they were disappointed to be on the JV. Plus, the former business executive did not have to share a stage with uncontrollable force Donald Trump.
鈥淚t was actually really good for Fiorina to be in the first debate,鈥� tweeted Vox publisher Ezra Klein yesterday. 鈥淪he won a debate tonight, as opposed to being lost in the bigger debate.鈥�
That鈥檚 reflected in search engine metrics. Compare Fiorina鈥檚 name in Google Trends with the consensus top three in the GOP race, Jeb Bush, Scott Walker, and Marco Rubio, and over the last day Fiorina easily outpoints them all. There鈥檚 more search interest in her by about a two-to-one margin.
OK, Mr. Trump easily outpoints her. But is that really going to last?
In her early evening appearance yesterday Fiorina鈥檚 answers were sharp and articulate. They flowed out like words from a practiced debater who's prepared for the questions. Asked why she was lagging behind, she pointed out that at this point in their races Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama looked like losers, too.
Asked the inevitable Trump question, she launched a multiple warhead answer that hit both Trump and her main target, likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 get a phone call from Bill Clinton before I jumped in the race. Did any of you get a phone call from Bill Clinton?鈥� said Fiorina, referring to reports that the former president had urged Trump to run.
鈥淢aybe it鈥檚 because I hadn鈥檛 given money to the foundation or donated to his wife鈥檚 Senate campaign,鈥� Fiorina continued.
But it was her sound-bite finale that most stirred the crowd. She鈥檚 framed her campaign around being the anti-Clinton. It鈥檚 not just that she鈥檚 the only woman in the GOP field, though that鈥檚 part of it. It鈥檚 that she鈥檚 the only hopeful tough enough to take it to the skilled Clinton infighters, in her telling.
鈥淗illary Clinton lies about Benghazi, she lies about e-mails. She is still defending Planned Parenthood, and she is still her party鈥檚 frontrunner,鈥� Fiorina said. 鈥�2016 is going to be a fight between conservatism, and a Democrat party that is undermining the very character of this nation. We need a nominee who is going to throw every punch, not pull punches, and someone who cannot stumble before he even gets into the ring.鈥�
Could Fiorina pick up the angry vote that powers Trump after his inevitable flame-out? That鈥檚 possible. She鈥檚 portraying herself as the fighter for which the GOP base yearns.
鈥淚n general, Republican votes like their candidates to focus on defeating Clinton 鈥� as opposed to, say, bickering with each other. Fiorina taps into that vein more effectively than anyone else,鈥� writes Byron York, the sharp political columnist of the , in a positive piece on Fiorina鈥檚 progress.
Whether she could actually win the Oval Office is another matter. Fiorina might be a classic boom candidate: Someone who rises quickly, inspires intense media scrutiny, and then loses support in the glare.
As David Harsanyi points out at she鈥檚 not particularly electable. Her previous policy positions haven鈥檛 been particularly conservative. As a CEO, she laid off 30,000 US workers 鈥� a fact that would make it into every other line of a Clinton speech in the general election. It鈥檚 an open question whether Fiorina was an effective business leader, in any case. She was forced out, and the company continues to struggle.
鈥淚 think Fiorina makes a pretty persuasive case that she did an admirable job at HP, but she has a lot of history to answer for. Probably too much,鈥� writes Mr. Harsanyi.
