海角大神

As a likely Republican presidential candidate, Carly Fiorina is an outlier on two scores: She鈥檚 female and she鈥檚 never held political office. But that鈥檚 not holding her back 鈥� it鈥檚 spurring her on.

The former CEO of Hewlett Packard, in fact, seems extra-motivated by Hillary Rodham Clinton鈥檚 apparent march to the Democratic nomination 鈥� which, if she succeeds, would make her the first woman to win a major-party nomination in the United States. 聽

鈥淚f Hillary Clinton were to face a [Republican] female nominee, there are a whole set of things that she won鈥檛 be able to talk about,鈥� Ms. Fiorina told reporters Thursday at a breakfast hosted by 海角大神. 鈥淪he won鈥檛 be able to talk about being the first woman president. She won鈥檛 be able to talk about a war on women without being challenged.聽 She won鈥檛 be able to play the gender card.鈥�

Instead, says Fiorina, Mrs. Clinton will have to run on 鈥渉er track record, her accomplishments, her candor and trustworthiness, and her policies.鈥�

Fiorina dismisses the idea of 鈥渨omen鈥檚 issues.鈥� 聽All issues are women鈥檚 issues, she says 鈥� though 鈥渟ometimes women see those issues differently."

On health care, 鈥渕en tend to talk about overreach of government, and certainly those are issues I and other women care deeply about,鈥� Fiorina says. 鈥淥n the other hand, women tend to focus more on access and choice.聽 Will I still be able to go to my children鈥檚 pediatrician?聽 Will everyone have access to quality health care?鈥�

And what about the social safety net? Single women tend to vote Democratic, in part because they are more reliant on government services than married women. Low-income single moms, in particular, often see the safety net as a lifeline.

From Fiorina鈥檚 perspective, the question is how those services are structured. She鈥檚 met single women who want a life of 鈥渄ignity and purpose and meaning,鈥� but government creates the wrong incentives, she says.

鈥淚f you are a single mom and you are on food stamps and you depend on those food stamps, we make it so hard for you to decide, 鈥榊ou know what, I want to get a job where I can work 40 hours or 45 hours or 50 hours a week to try and pull myself and my family up,鈥欌�� Fiorina says.

Sometimes, though, the numbers don鈥檛 add up 鈥� especially when the cost of child care is factored in.

Fiorina agrees, then goes on: 鈥淚 must say, that I think there are many, many, many examples of liberals finding facts to support the government鈥檚 overreach.鈥�

Obamacare is one example, she says, where the government caused the consolidation of an industry that ended up 鈥渘ot good for anybody.鈥�

鈥淎nd I think the same is true of child care,鈥� Fiorina says. 鈥淚 mean everybody is getting ginned up to say the government needs to do all these things. I believe that the private sector demonstrably does many things better 鈥� not all things 鈥� but many things better.鈥�

Though she has flown high in business 鈥� in 1999, becoming the first female CEO of a Fortune 20 company, HP, a position from which she was forced out in 2005聽聽鈥� Fiorina also makes clear that she has had life experiences that many people, many women, can relate to. She has overcome a diagnosis of breast cancer. She lost a stepdaughter to addiction.

She speaks of her early adult life as a secretary in a nine-person real-estate firm, typing and filing and answering phones. Two men in the office saw her potential and offered her the opportunity to learn about business.

鈥淢y life took a different turn,鈥� says Fiorina, a graduate of Stanford University. 鈥淢ost people have far more potential than they realize.鈥�

Fiorina is taking that same approach to this next phase in her life. Women are underrepresented in political leadership, as in business, because they haven鈥檛 realized their potential.

The data, she says, are clear. 鈥淚f you get women involved in any problem 鈥� economic growth, poverty, disease, conflict resolution 鈥� the problem gets better.鈥�

Fiorina is not letting the fact that she鈥檚 never held political office get in the way. She did win the Republican nomination for US Senate in California in 2010, but lost to incumbent Sen. Barbara Boxer (D) in the general election. Senator Boxer is vacating her office at the end of this term, but Fiorina seems to have her eye on a different prize.

Fiorina holds out her corporate experience and advisory roles at the Central Intelligence Agency, Department of Defense, and State Department as an alternate path to the top of American government. She says voters see her as someone who 鈥渦nderstands economies and how the world works and technology and executive decisionmaking and what makes a bureaucracy go.鈥�

And she thinks voters have had enough of politics as usual: 鈥淢ost Americans think that the professional political class isn鈥檛 a particularly good invention.鈥澛�