With the rise of Tom Campbell in the polls and Carly Fiorina’s battle with cancer affecting her ability to campaign as vigorously as she would like to, it’s worrying to think that what I have been looking forward to for a year now may not come to fruition.
I have read Carly Fiorina’s memoir, Tough Choices, and I have watched her spar with Democrats on Sunday morning talk shows. I see in her the same qualities I see in my favorite leaders like Rudy Giuliani: a visceral loathing of bullies of all stripes, a willingness to make unpopular decisions with the long-run in mind, and the ability to stand up to entrenched interests.
Carly’s background is in philosophy, medieval history, management, and business administration. She has headed multiple companies and was, at one point, arguably the most powerful woman on Wall Street (although she has written that she loathes the fact that she was tagged as a “woman CEO” rather than simply a CEO). While business outlets have given her tenure at HP mixed reviews in hindsight — especially for her controversial merger of HP with Compaq — her philosophy of management shows that she’s unafraid to tell entrenched interests that things have to change. She stands up for controversial causes with vigor — watch her defend outsourcing (which she called, bluntly, “rightsourcing”) and you can see her articulation in action — and is unusually persuasive on television. Boxer’s campaign will attack her for the downsizing and stock decline that occurred under her watch — but Carly will run circles around her with her own side of the story.
Oh. And another thing: it can’t be simply written off as irrelevant that she has bottomless pockets. She can self-fund this race against Boxer, whose approval ratings have slipped below 50%. It will not only allow the national party to fund races elsewhere, but it will give us a leg up in fighting SENATOR Boxer.
Carly’s campaign has been less than amazing, so far. The “CarlyFiorina Dreaming” pun that originally adorned her website was called by some media outlets the worst campaign launch ever. But she is resilient and she is bold. Once this campaign gets into full gear, California ought to pick her.
Talk to Alex Knepper at apkkib@aol.com
January 29th, 2010 at 1:49 pm
I’m not crazy about her. She’s got issues. I am liking Chuck DeVORE.
January 29th, 2010 at 1:53 pm
Care to elaborate?
January 29th, 2010 at 1:58 pm
Wouldn’t surprise me if she won. Campbell is probably more of a threat to her than DeVore, but Campbell’s so liberal I doubt he can win the nomination.
January 29th, 2010 at 2:05 pm
Fiorina just doesn’t seem like the kind of candidate who can upset an entrenched Dem in a deep blue state in this environment. She has a controversial record as a CEO of a billion dollar corporation and received tens of millions in a settlement when she left. In other words, she is hardly a “Scott Brown.”
Yes, Chuck Devore is an underdog, but not any more so than Scott Brown was. Devore more fits the bill of someone outside the power structure fighting to take our government back than Fiorina does. Which seems to be a successful blueprint for unseating Dems in blue states right now.
January 29th, 2010 at 2:07 pm
DeVore is a joke. He is a perennial candidate with no money, no base, and no chance.
You must not know much about Carly Fiorina’s record. She’s spent her entire life taking on entrenched interests.
January 29th, 2010 at 2:08 pm
And no, she’s not a Scott Brown. She doesn’t drive a truck. She’s not obscure. In other words: she has a real record of real accomplishment and not just fightin’ words for the establishment.
Heaven forbid we evaluate actions over words.
January 29th, 2010 at 2:09 pm
I know it’s counter intuitive to contend that Devore is actually the most electable Republican in this race. Our preconceived notions and acceptance of the conventional wisdom needs to get thrown out the door in this cycle.
People are looking to vote for outsiders this time around.
January 29th, 2010 at 2:10 pm
What, Alex, has she accomplished exactly? Please elaborate on all of the amazing achievements of Carly Fiorina.
January 29th, 2010 at 2:10 pm
Yep. For example, her comment that government will not be truly representative unless half the members of Congress (I think it was) are women.
My reaction is “Oh boy. Here we go again. Form over substance.” The attitude perhaps, that men and women are completely different species. Let’s have a quota than, Carly, y’know? Or maybe we can all just grow up. Maybe a certain percentage have to be red heads, or cross-gendered like Obama believes.
Racism, sexism, all this stuff needs to be put behind us. IF we want to progress. So my impression is that she had some bad experiences when she was younger, as all women have, she worked hard to prove herself, and she still can’t get past it. No more elected officials that are trying to find themselves, I think.
Now, not knowing her personally this is all just my own impression based on her statements and behaviors. The few I have observed. But my initial impressions are that she has issues.
January 29th, 2010 at 2:16 pm
She was the CEO of a Fortune 20 company. That’s not an accomplishment..?
Carly is an outsider. She hasn’t worked in politics all of her life. In what possible sense is Chuck Devore an outsider? He’s been in politics in some fashion since the 1980′s.
January 29th, 2010 at 2:18 pm
You get the same crap about women in politics out of Sarah Palin and none of you people bat an eye. But Carly, who doesn’t have the cultural bona fides that Palin does, doesn’t seem to get a pass. Why is this?
January 29th, 2010 at 2:18 pm
I’ve watched Carly for some time. And I hate to tell you Alex, she’s a fraud. Her tenure as CEO at HP was an unmitigated disaster, and it took her successor a couple of years to clean up. She beefed up her personal communications team while simultaneously starving the critical business functions at HP (as an example, she was a fixture at Davos, and liked to take her personal “entourage” with her wherever she traveled.)
Now, maybe she’s more cut out for politics than the nuts and bolts at running her business, but I’d say her failures at HP are representative of everything that’s wrong with our politics today. Whitman’s got the chops; Carly was, sadly, a show pony. While Tom Campbell a little too iconoclastic for my tastes, in the end he would prove to be the superior Senator on policy — which, after all is what should matter.
January 29th, 2010 at 2:19 pm
So I’ll put you in Mitt Romney’s camp for 2012 then?
Attention all “Romney Guys”, bookmark Alex’s comments for use for the next 3 years.
January 29th, 2010 at 2:23 pm
If Mitt Romney were a truthful candidate, I’d be in his camp. Normally, he’s my kind of Republican. But I don’t trust him.
However, I’ll be the first to concede that I’d love him to run (anywhere, I don’t care!) for Senate, governor — that he’s great on TV — that he’s a good adviser, that he gives good speeches. But I don’t trust him not to be “Our Clinton,” pandering to get ahead.
January 29th, 2010 at 2:25 pm
Dude, are you sure you are familiar with Chuck Devore? His bio is very, very impressive (all emphasis mine):
Honors student in Strategic Affairs who studied abroad in the Middle East? A member of the Reagan Administration as a Special Assistant for Foreign Affairs in the Department of Defense? Vice President of Research for an aerospace engineering firm? Only sought and been elected to one office, for which he is now term-limited? Claremont Institute Fellow?
Which “Chuck Devore” were you referring to? Because it can’t be this one.
January 29th, 2010 at 2:29 pm
Oh, I was confusing him with someone else. I thought he was the one who challenged Feinstein.
I would gladly support him if he became the nominee (same with Campbell). But I just think that Carly is superior.
January 29th, 2010 at 2:30 pm
Carly was also fired from her CEO position. Do we list that as an “accomplishment”?
January 29th, 2010 at 2:32 pm
Alex,
I disagree that she comes off across very well on television (then again, we’ll probably disagree on how anyone comes across on television).
January 29th, 2010 at 2:39 pm
I hate to say this, but a blah white male doesn’t go far in CA unless he’s a DEM. CA has a lot of identity politics, which is where Carly is a good fit. She’s the most electable conservative, and could upset Boxer. I don’t know why people aren’t hitting Campbell as an empty suit and hack. He was the budget director for Arrrnold. Look at how well that turned out. We don’t need a fiscal and social liberal.
January 29th, 2010 at 2:41 pm
Alex, weren’t you still supporting Arlen Specter not long ago? Thinking he was the only one electable “for the good of the party?” Maybe I misread your piece.
My point being, times have changed. People are looking for real conservatives, capable, competent conservatives with few or preferably NO personal issues. And can you blame them?
January 29th, 2010 at 2:41 pm
Comparing Palin to Fiorina is an interesting exercise, too.
January 29th, 2010 at 2:45 pm
And while I have you here live, Alex, what did you make of that piece about a whole region of Pashtuns in Afghanistan practicing homesexuality and insisting they really weren’t? All of them born that way? Not according to the reporter who framed the story for FOX news. THey engage in homosexual activity to be socially and “religiously” acceptable, in their minds. I mean, you put up a good argument but clearly kids, and even adults it seems can be convinced to accept sexual deviancy if society deems it to be acceptable behavior. Not to totally derail this worthy Fiorina debate.
January 29th, 2010 at 2:45 pm
Well. Full disclosure: I’m Chuck DeVore’s communications director, so take everything I say with the necessary grain of salt. Campaign official, biased, etc., etc.
Three things, if I may:
1) Anyone wanting to know more about Chuck is free to e-mail me (my contact info is at the campaign site). He’s pretty willing to talk to bloggers in particular.
2) Nothing says “outsider” like “RNC Victory Chair 2008″ and “McCain Senior Advisor and Proxy” and “NRSC pick.”
3) This sentence — “She’s spent her entire life taking on entrenched interests.” — is amazing.
Anyway, apologies for intruding.
January 29th, 2010 at 2:45 pm
The recent polls show Tom Campbell polling better than Fiorina against Boxer. Is Fiorina too controversial to win, or is Campbell just better known? Either way both are better than DeVore, since they can actually win.
January 29th, 2010 at 2:47 pm
I am not hopeful, but not dumb enough to believe that DeVore could win the nomination, so I used to support (nominally) Fiorina. However, I like Campbell more. He is not a ‘moderate’ ala Lieberman, McCain, etc. He is clearly a social LIBERAL. However- He routinely had VERY high rankings from the National Taxpayers Union (that would put many phony conservatives to shame). Fiorina is obviously not conservative on anything. She just has a lot of cash and an ‘R’ next to her name. When it comes to economic issues, Campbell is the best Californian since Ronald Reagan. So, for now at least, I support Campbell.
January 29th, 2010 at 2:48 pm
Intrude away, Mr. Trevino! So when is the money bomb for Mr. DeVORE?
January 29th, 2010 at 2:49 pm
I think Campbell ran against Schwarzie for governor some years back and I voted for him. He was hard core conservative then, I thought. Is it the same guy, and what happened to him?
January 29th, 2010 at 2:52 pm
change “nomination” to general election also. i think that goes w/out saying however.
January 29th, 2010 at 2:52 pm
Yep what I liked about DeVORE was that clip of him confronting the Sacramento corruption league with their trampling of the CA constitution in an effort to raise taxes without going through the correct procedures. Anyone with guts to do that type of thing fits the prototype for what we’re looking to set up in D.C.
January 29th, 2010 at 2:52 pm
#27:
You’re probably thinking of Tom McClintock who did run against Arnold back during the recall.
January 29th, 2010 at 2:54 pm
California legislature is one putrid, rotting egg right now. Even if Whitman gets in, how is she going to take on the union iron grip around taxpayers’ throats out there? They even brought the Terminator to his knees, made a whiney spendaholic out of him.
January 29th, 2010 at 2:55 pm
30 Yes thank you it was Tom McClintock. My mistake.
January 29th, 2010 at 2:55 pm
You know, all those light-skinned guys blur together….
January 29th, 2010 at 2:58 pm
Like #25 said – Campbell is a hardline fiscal conservative and these days it’d be nice to have more of them in the Senate.
January 29th, 2010 at 2:59 pm
In my mind social liberals claiming to be fiscal conservatives are suspect.
January 29th, 2010 at 3:02 pm
Any woman or man that has affairs, aborts regularly, maybe smokes dope and then tries to reconcile the family budget with a spouse expecting complete honestly TYPICALLY has a problem coming clean about their “liberal” behaviors and their true costs, and they usually have to cook the books or develop an additional source of income.
This is an analogy for those social liberal/fiscal conservative Jekyll and Hydes, in case it was too…..obtuse…
January 29th, 2010 at 3:05 pm
I think DeVore was also the one who demanded that his own party head in the Senate resign for colluding with the Dems on attempts to raise taxes.
I moved out of CA several months ago, but still remember being impressed when he’d come on the radio, especially as guest of some particularly tough personalities.
January 29th, 2010 at 3:06 pm
#36: And that’s how you address the legacy of classical liberal thought?
You are a pathetic excuse.
January 29th, 2010 at 3:07 pm
P.S. Bad post. I’m sure you don’t know that “classical liberal” stands for laissez-faire capitalism.
P.P.S. Oops again, I’m sure you don’t know what “laissez-faire” means.
January 29th, 2010 at 3:10 pm
Mr. Trevino — If you’re still lurking, could you shoot me an e-mail?
January 29th, 2010 at 3:10 pm
And I thought I was obtuse. ?
January 29th, 2010 at 3:13 pm
41 – You are.
January 29th, 2010 at 3:13 pm
OK, OK, I’m not supposed to say those kinds of things. LOL. I couldn’t help it.
January 29th, 2010 at 3:15 pm
I know you’re crazy about me Alex. Why are you prohibited from speaking your true opinions and by whom? I agree with a ban on profanity and vulgarity, but are you really restricted on personal opinion?
January 29th, 2010 at 3:18 pm
No, no, I mean, it’s wrong for me to say mean things to commenters. Not professional.
January 29th, 2010 at 3:18 pm
Oh yeah and Metro I’m sure you don’t know what triskaidekaphobia means. You only have 3 seconds to answer, no fair using wikipedia.
January 29th, 2010 at 3:18 pm
46 – Fear of 13
January 29th, 2010 at 3:19 pm
Although I’m not sure what that has to do with anything..?
January 29th, 2010 at 3:19 pm
Am I still allowed to be mean to you?
January 29th, 2010 at 3:21 pm
47 Alex, you are so smart in an evil way I am simultaneously repelled by and attracted to your intellect. You are indeed correct. How about….phasodynamicism? 3..2…
January 29th, 2010 at 3:21 pm
For probably the 1st time someone agrees w/ me on r42012. Campbell is legit conservative on econ issues. Not like mccain and all the others. Normally, it is true that most social ‘moderates’ fiscal ‘cons’ are really just moderate-libs all around, however Campbell is different. He has a record. To Liz, i suggest you go to the NTU website and look up how Campbell consistently scores higher than supposedly ‘right wing’ leaders in congress
January 29th, 2010 at 3:22 pm
50 – Haha. I’ll admit that I have no idea what that means.
January 29th, 2010 at 3:22 pm
Alright don’t torture yourself, I made the word up.
Gotta go, so in a nutshell vote for DeVORE, and ROMNEY of course when the time comes. Ciao.
January 29th, 2010 at 3:23 pm
Alex,
I do know Fiorina’s record. She is a joke of a CEO. She made many poor decisions in her most prominent role at the helm of HP. While Meg Whitman can back up her executive credentials with great results, Fiorina would make an awful governor (though not worse than Boxer). Campbell needs to be the guy there.
January 29th, 2010 at 3:23 pm
Thanks James will do.
January 29th, 2010 at 3:26 pm
53 – Testing me to see if I’ll make something up (“I know I’ve heard of it!”), huh?
January 29th, 2010 at 3:27 pm
Alex I’ve been prodding your intellect for a while and seldom found it artificial or wanting. Today I was not disappointed either. You know the motto, “no phonies allowed.”
January 29th, 2010 at 4:49 pm
“I am simultaneously repelled by and attracted to your intellect.”
idealization and devaluation (“love-hate” relationships).
Liz . Alex
January 29th, 2010 at 4:50 pm
For governor I am with Meg Whitman. For US senate I am undecided, I like Carly Fiorina and Tom Campbell – but I am leaning toward Campbell.
January 29th, 2010 at 4:57 pm
It appears as if we have very strong views on the CA Senate race, and we are lucky to have three strong candidates.
DeVore and Campbell are excellent public servants, and history has proven Carly correct with her decisions as CEO. Clearly her reforms at HP saved the company from the terrible fate that many other Tech-Corps (who refused to change) experienced.
January 29th, 2010 at 5:07 pm
Carly’s record at HP is highly misunderstood. When was she CEO at HP guys? THE TECH BUBBLE! She made tough decsions that in the end lead to long term gains for HP. Stop drinking the Kool-Aid Please <.<
January 29th, 2010 at 5:08 pm
What has Carley ever done?
She has no history of advocating for conservative positions until this year.
This California guy will be voting Chuck DeVore.
January 29th, 2010 at 5:49 pm
62 – She’s been in business all of her life. Obviously she can’t be out there on the campaign trail or writing political tracts. It compromises the company’s image.
January 29th, 2010 at 5:53 pm
It is quite obvious to me that there are several reasons for our discord over the California situation. However, we should not be distressed, rather we should rejoice. The fact of the matter is we have 3 candidates all polling close to the 2nd most left-wing member of the senate.
January 29th, 2010 at 6:04 pm
It is obvious that there any many different philosophies among the posters, but, for me, I have to somewhat throw my ideals away when it comes to many senate races, and especially that of California. I believe that Campbell has as good a chance as Fiorina in the general, if not better. I am aware of her money, but if it still has not helped her to do any better than Campbell (who only just switched to this race a couple weeks ago) it seems illogical that another 7 months will not do the trick. Furthermore, I do not believe that DeVore can win- either the general or the primary. And make no mistake about it- DeVore in Cali is much different than Brown in Mass. Brown was no conservative- not a total RINO either- but certainly not a conservative. And, for all intents and purposes, California is little more conservative than Massachusetts. After 30 years of massive immigration, California barely resembles the state that Richard Nixon or Ronald Reagan governed. Therefore, the question is Campbell or Fiorina. We know what we will get w/ Campbell. He will vote w/ the left on social issues. But I believe Fiorina will too. On the supreme court question, I see no reason to believe that she will vote better than Campbell (confirm any nominee that is). On economic issues however, she is far worse. She dodged cap and trade (which is very unpopular). How can we expect her to stick with us on the issues where we are not supported by the majority of Americans? Onthe other hand, Campbell has a great economic record. Therefore to me, there is no question that, in this longshot of longshot hopes, Campbell is the man.
January 29th, 2010 at 6:24 pm
I’m all for whomever can take down Boxer but as someone who witnessed at close range Carly Fiorina’s leadership at Lucent Technologies, I’m not too impressed.
What is Lucent, you might ask? It was once the darling of Wall Street and a giant telecom equipment and services provider that seemingly was all-conquering. Some of their downfall was attributed to the dot-com bubble but much of it too seemed to fall on Carly’s shoulders. There was literally dancing in the halls of the company when she stepped down.
January 29th, 2010 at 6:27 pm
I would have no problem with either Fiorina or Campbell. I don’t think DeVore can win — if evidence to the contrary turns up, I would be OK with him. I can support just about anybody who can win against Boxer.
January 29th, 2010 at 7:45 pm
Kavon,
Chuck DeVore is a little known(outside his Orange County district)California Assemblyman who polls in single digits behind Campbell and Fiorina.
His fundraising is anemic: http://flapsblog.com/2010/01/29/ca-sen-carly-fiorina-leads-in-u-s-senate-campaign-cash/
Devore cannot be considered a serious candidate.
The nomination will go to either Fiorina or Campbell.
January 29th, 2010 at 8:42 pm
“Oh, I was confusing him with someone else. I thought he was the one who challenged Feinstein.”
Dude, Alex, that guy was named Dick Mountjoy. That’s hardly a name you mix up with someone else’s.
January 29th, 2010 at 8:59 pm
Fiorina compared to Rudy?
I don’t think so. In fact, I fear that Fiorina would simply botch the race if she were nominated. She’s been nothing but incompetant so far in her approach. The fact that she’s losing to Campbell despite her national recognition tells me she’s a disaster waiting to happen.
January 29th, 2010 at 11:58 pm
Why is there not 1 Hispanic conservative in California? We need a California Rubio.
January 30th, 2010 at 12:46 am
There is a Hispanic Republican in the race named Al Ramirez. He keeps get slighted by the media but he just keeps building his own audience including holding court at the NRSC with Senator John Cornyn which appears as an obvious hedge on Carly that she can’t be counted on to get through the primary. DeVore has tried to act for months like Al Ramirez doesn’t exist even when they’ve been at joint GOP club forums but at least Ramirez seems to have the interest of the NRSC in his campaign while Chuck can’t even get a meeting. This guy, Al Ramirez will break out after the ballot is set in March. DeVore can’t hold his own to Ramirez in terms of broad appeal. Campbell will look like a stale loaf bread next to Ramirez with his youth and vigor. Ramirez, a tech businessman himself will send Carly back into the hole of shame for what she did at Lucent and HP. Start thinking Al Ramirez, underdog GOP candidate but the guy who can beat Boxer.
January 30th, 2010 at 2:03 am
Dude, Alex, that guy was named Dick Mountjoy. That’s hardly a name you mix up with someone else’s.
Yeah, I don’t know what I was thinking, or why I hadn’t stumbled onto my mistake sooner.
January 30th, 2010 at 2:52 am
I’ve heard Al Ramirez speak at a couple of events. He’s sharp. It is really too bad the media won’t give him his due. Probably because the liberal nedia knows that a young, dynamic, articulate Hispanic Conservative will spell doom for the Democrats if Hispanics voters crossed lines for someone who could be a role model vs a loser like LA Mayor Tony Villar. Why the GOP is not promoting him more in CA shows how insecure and how much lip service there is among right wingers about wanting to appeal to Hispanics. The GOP can’t expect to win to Hispanics on family issues if they treat one of their own like a step-child.
January 30th, 2010 at 11:45 am
Probably because the liberal nedia knows that a young, dynamic, articulate Hispanic Conservative will spell doom for the Democrats
Yeah…that’s…it…
January 30th, 2010 at 12:12 pm
The most recent poll shows Campbell down 45-41 and Fiorina down 48-40. Additionally, Campbell leads the primary 27-16. I am sorry if what you have been hoping for doesnt come to fruition, but I still do not see why she has to be the one? And being a “leader” and a “Giuliani” type would normally lead oneself to an executive position, not a legislator.
January 30th, 2010 at 10:13 pm
Voters Seem to Like Campbell’s Switch
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/31/us/31sfpolitics.html?pagewanted=print
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