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Nov-05-2009Fiorina Formally Announces a Hinted-At Candidacy(topic overview)
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It's official: Former Hewlett-Packard Co. (NASDAQ:HPQ) chief Carly Fiorina is preparing a run for the U.S. Senate. She will be gunning for the Republican nomination to run for the seat of longtime incumbent California Democrat Barbara Boxer. Fiorina, who was an economic adviser last year on Sen. John McCain's failed presidential bid, was ousted from HP in early 2005 after a stormy five-and-a-half years as the company's CEO. She engineered the company's acquisition of Compaq Computer Corp. in 2001, a deal that was widely derided but eventually ended up a relatively good move for HP, especially once new chief Mark Hurd took over. Her ouster was not directly related to the troubled merger, but rather her efforts to spy on directors and journalists concerning leaks that led to her ultimate firing. According to an Associated Press report, Boxer's aides are a bit concerned by the formidable war chest Fiorina assembled during her HP tenure. A Boxer spokesperson said that Fiorina earned $100 million while at HP and signaled that the incumbent senator intends to attack her challengers record of job cuts while at the tech giant, especially after the Compaq deal, the AP said. [1] For what it is worth, Carly Fiorina always struck me as having more the affect of a politician than a chief executive. Ms Fiorina, whose troubled leadership of Hewlett-Packard ended in 2005 when she was pushed out by the board, and eventually succeeded by Mark Hurd, today revealed that she plans to run as a Republican for the California Senate seat held by Barbara Boxer. It may prove good timing, since it comes a day after there was a swing to the right in U.S. elections, with Jon Corzine, a former chief executive of Goldman Sachs, being defeated in his bid for re-election as governor of New Jersey, and a Republican being elected governor of Virginia. The fact that Mr Corzine was beaten and that Michael Bloomberg was only just re-elected as mayor of New York despite spending extremely heavily on his campaign suggests that former chief executives do not always succeed as in political life. My memories of Ms Fiorina, even in her time at HP, are of a very polished public performer but not someone who had an impressive grasp of detail. I was struck at how like a politician she seemed at a press briefing in Davos in 2005, just before she was ousted. She was poised and very articulate but she tended to stick firmly to her talking points and did not seem very comfortable responding to questions. Admittedly, it could be that I simply witnessed her at a particularly stressful moment. Anyway, those qualities may serve her well in her new venture, for which she prepared by serving as an adviser to John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee, in last year's campaign.[2]
"Being in the U.S. Senate with 99 other colleagues is not like being the CEO of a company. Even Carly Fiorina has admitted they are very different roles." DeVore was referring to a 2008 faux pas in which Fiorina, then a top economic advisor to John McCain, told a radio station that his running mate Sarah Palin was unqualified to be a chief executive. She was soon sidelined by the McCain team. In her appearance, Fiorina suggested the outlines of her campaign. She demanded a smaller government, decreased spending and increased transparency. She pledged not to raise taxes and decried "rabid partisanship" in Washington. She said Boxer's positions have killed jobs in California. Fiorina also struck some moderate notes, calling for balancing the needs of the delta smelt and farmers in the Central Valley, and proudly pointing out that under her watch Hewlett-Packard extended benefits to gay domestic partners. She said she objects to same-sex marriage. seema.mehta@latimes.com Times staff writer Alex Pham contributed to this report.[3] GARDEN GROVE, Calif. — Former Silicon Valley executive Carly Fiorina announced Wednesday she is running for the chance to seize liberal stalwart Barbara Boxer's U.S. Senate seat, depicting the three-term Democrat as a Capitol Hill do-nothing who penned novels while jobs vanished and government spending soared. The former Hewlett-Packard Co. CEO's entry into the race could present California's junior senator with her most formidable re-election challenge, but Fiorina first will have to survive what could become a scalding Republican primary against state Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, who has worked feverishly to court GOP voters.[4] SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Former Hewlett-Packard Co. Chief Executive Carly Fiorina said Wednesday she is running for the Republican nomination to battle liberal stalwart Barbara Boxer for her U.S. Senate seat. She was scheduled to make a formal announcement later in the day in Garden Grove. Her entry into the race could present California's junior senator with her most formidable re-election challenge, but Fiorina first would have to survive a primary against state Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, who has worked feverishly over the past year to court GOP voters.[5]
Former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina'''s entry Wednesday into the Republican primaries for the U.S. Senate seat from California could potentially shake up next year'''s race. How well Fiorina does will depend on a host of factors, say political analysts, from how the economy is doing by election day to whether she survives her formidable opponent in the Republican primary, state Assemblyman Chuck Devore. Fiorina, who was economic adviser to Sen. John McCain (R) of Arizona during his presidential campaign last year, on Wednesday criticized Senator Boxer for doing nothing to stem California'''s job losses. '''Boxer may be in for the political fight of her life,''' says Jessica Levinson, political analyst for the Center for Governmental Studies (CGS).[6]
"Senator Boxer and the California Democratic Party will be ready for Assemblymember Chuck DeVore, Fiorina or whoever wins the Republican primary in 2010." Now we see how " Carly 2.0 " is going to be attacked by the California Democratic Party: first on political experience as she has little save for advising then-Presidential candidate Senator John McCain (and where she said neither McCain or Vice Presidential Running Mate Sarah Palin could run a company) ; second on wealth as Fiorina didn't leave HP poor but her income is after yesterday's election officially a liability (New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg almost lost his bid for a third term after spending almost $100 million in that city's mayor's race.); third on her voting record, where she's only voted five times in the last 18 elections. That kind of disengagement can and will be used by Dems as a "hammer and pound" message in the campaign.[7] Devore, 47, is a long-term conservative who is well-known in state GOP circles, but has little name recognition across the state and may not have the financial wherewithal to fully compete against Fiorina. Fiorina, 54, has no elective experience but is viewed by some as the strategic choice who would have a better chance taking on Boxer because of her more moderate views and her deep pockets. Fiorina has vast personal wealth -- her HP severance alone exceeded $21 million after six rocky years as chief executive. Upheaval during her tenure at the company, a spotty voting record and her new arrival to politics make some wary of her. Democrats seized on these issues to paint Fiorina as an inept businesswoman who got rich off the backs of workers, and as out of touch with ordinary people. "The last thing Californians need in a U.S. senator is a failed CEO who was fired by her last employer after taking $100 million for herself," said John Burton, chairman of the California Democratic Party. Fiorina today said critics are mischaracterizing her resume, and that her work at HP laid the foundation for the company's current success. She said her business background and lack of political experience make her a D.C. outsider and only "viable" Republican challenger. She also has repeatedly apologized for not voting but also explained it was because she felt unconnected to politicians. "Shame on me," she said.[8] Visit UShow.com I just got an email from California Democratic Party chairman John Burton that's a blistering attack on. I just got an email from California Democratic Party chairman John Burton that's a blistering attack on Former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, who recently announced she was entering to enter the race for California's next U.S. Senator as a Republican, thus challenging Senator Barbara Boxer. "The last thing Californians need in a U.S. Senator is a failed CEO who was fired by her last employer after taking $100 million for herself. "In these tough times, hard-working Californians need a Senator who will fight to create jobs, not a millionaire former executive who laid off more than 28,000 Americans and shipped jobs overseas.[7] Fiorina left the company with a severance package that exceeded $21 million after nearly six years as chief executive. Democrats, both inside the Boxer campaign and out, seized on Fiorina's business record to malign her candidacy. "In these tough times, hard-working Californians need a senator who will fight to create jobs, not a millionaire former executive who laid off more than 28,000 Americans and shipped jobs overseas," said John Burton, chairman of the California Democratic Party. Fiorina said Wednesday that her work laid the foundation for the company's current success. She also took on another vulnerability: her erratic voting record.[3]
Fiorina received more than $100 million as CEO of Hewlett-Packard, and that kind of personal wealth could buy a massive campaign," Rose Kapolczynski, a spokeswoman for Boxer's re-election campaign, said Wednesday. She agreed with Fiorina's assessment that jobs and the economy will be top issues in the upcoming race and signaled that Boxer intends to go after Fiorina's record as a chief executive, particularly job losses that occurred after HP took over Compaq. Boxer, 68, is in her third term in the Senate and easily won re-election in 1998 and 2004. She has long been a target of conservatives — they pounced earlier this year when she chastised a brigadier general who called her "ma'am" during a congressional hearing — but has yet to face a serious re-election challenge.[5] Carly Fiorina has the ability to self-finance a race in a state that is extremely expensive to advertise in and also against an incumbent who already has $6 million in campaign reserves. One thing the Boxer campaign has made clear: They will make an issue out of Fiorina's turbulent leadership at Hewlett Packard, something that could be a thorn in the side of the Fiorina campaign. If Fiorina is the nominee, she could give Barbara Boxer her most difficult campaign since 1992 when she was first elected to succeed Alan Cranston in a tight race against Bruce Herschensohn. One of the most aggressive members of the Senate who is known for her fervent defense of women's against an equally aggressive former Silicon Valley CEO who recently survived breast cancer could give politico watchers one of the most entertaining races of the year.[9] The California Senate primary may not be until June, but when we're faced with an entrenched incumbent like Barbara Boxer, we need all the lead time we can get. Up until now, the DC types have all been supporting Carly Fiorina in our primary, even though she had not yet declared her candidacy, and had yet shown either an inability or an unwillingness to campaign to the Republican voters of this state. That early support had failed to move any dials as Assemblyman Chuck DeVore has raised money well, gained loyal grass roots support, and ran ahead of Fiorina against Boxer in polls.[10] Mrs. Fiorina's Twitter account, for example, has been linking news stories from the New York Times, Politico and Gay Patriot that highlight Mrs. Boxer's lack of success gaining support for bill among moderate Democrats and the GOP, often with the phrase "ineffective Boxer." When asked how much cap-and-trade would be a factor in her yet-to-be announced campaign, Carly for California spokeswoman Julie Soderlund was coy, but hinted strongly that the announcement was coming soon and it would be discussed. "We don't want to spoil the surprise of what Carly has planned for later this week, but suffice it to say, if Barbara Boxer is planning to run for re-election free of scrutiny of her exceedingly thin record, her utter failure to lead, and her track record of bitter and ineffective partisanship, she'll be sorely disappointed," she said. GOP California Assemblyman Chuck DeVore announced his candidacy for the Senate seat months ago. He will vie against Mrs. Fiorina for the Republican Senate nomination in the California primary.[11]
Updated with reaction from Chuck DeVore and video of Carly Fiorina's Garden Grove appearance. Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina stopped in Garden Grove this morning to announce her candidacy for the U.S. Senate seat held by Democrat Barbara Boxer. While the Republican touted job creation as her top priority, she also defended herself from criticism that Hewlett-Packard had eliminated some jobs and sent others overseas while she was chief there. "The truth is that we were taking Hewlett-Packard through tough times and we had to make tough decisions," Fiorina told reporters after announcing her candidacy and holding a town-hall meeting at the Garden Grove plant of Earth Friendly Products.[12] OAKLAND, California (Reuters) - Former Hewlett-Packard Co chief and Silicon Valley star Carly Fiorina said on Wednesday that she would run as a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate from California, taking on liberal Democrat Barbara Boxer. Several people who made their names and fortunes as high technology executives are fighting to be on the California ballot next fall, with former eBay Chief Executive Meg Whitman and entrepreneur-turned-Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner running for governor as Republicans. Both Fiorina and Whitman are relative newcomers to politics and face battles to get their party's nominations.[13] LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Former Hewlett-Packard Co chief Carly Fiorina said on Wednesday she would run as a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate from California, seeking to unseat liberal Democrat Barbara Boxer next year.[14]
Garamendi doesn't live in the district. "After months of speculation but few public appearances, former Hewlett-Packard chief executive Carly Fiorina was expected to announce her plans Wednesday for the U.S. Senate seat held by liberal stalwart Barbara Boxer of California. Fiorina's campaign said she was to make 'a major announcement' during an appearance at a business in the Orange County city of Garden Grove Wednesday morning," the AP says.[15]
As expected, Carly Fiorina is running for Senate in California. The former Hewlett-Packard CEO and 2008 surrogate for John McCain will face conservative former Assemblyman Chuck DeVore in the GOP primary before she gets a chance at Sen. Barbara Boxer (D).[16] CNN is reporting that Carly Fiorina has officially entered the race for Senate in California. She first will face Chuck DeVore in the Republican primary and, if successful, then the incumbent Barbara Boxer in the 2010 election. Her announcement starts with some bland, typical political rhetoric.[17] Republican businesswoman Carly Fiorina formally entered the race for U.S. Senate on Wednesday, issuing a blistering critique of Democratic incumbent Barbara Boxer even as she tried to blunt her own primary challenge from the right. Before a small gathering of supporters in a Garden Grove warehouse, Fiorina said her business acumen and real-world experience make her the only viable Republican candidate in the 2010 contest. She mocked Boxer for writing three pieces of legislation during her 17-year tenure and for spending the summer on a book tour instead of meeting with voters at town halls.[3] The former Hewlett Packard CEO stressed the need for California and the U.S. to maintain a business edge as Wednesday's keynote speaker at the International Business Leadership Awards held by the World Trade Center San Diego in Coronado. Fiorina, who earlier Wednesday threw her hat in the ring for Barbara Boxer's U.S. Senate seat, is now the CEO of Carly Fiorina Enterprises. "American companies in general and California companies in particular face challenges that they have not faced in the past," Fiorina said.[18] Fiorina started off in the late 80s as a management trainee at AT & T and soon rose to become VP of the firm. Her career steadily grew and she was appointed chairman of Lucent consumers''' communications and was voted as the most powerful business woman in 1998 by fortune magazine. Since that time, she has always made the top ten ranks as one of the most powerful business women in North America. In 2005, Cara was forced out of HP after the company stocks fells but insider information suggest that she was just too aggressive and her ideology did not go along well with other board members. Her tenure at HP has been analyzed and the reviews are mixed. While some say that she is a powerful business woman, there are others who also claim that she ranks as one of the worst American CEOs of all time. After leaving HP, Fiorina joined several boards of trustees including the MIT, world economic forum and she is an honorary fellow of the London school of business. Her website this morning says she is considering running for the U.S. senate elections in California 2010, where she will most likely run against Barbara Boxer.[19] Then along came Carly Fiorina. By the time she was fired, HP had gone from one of the world's most admired companies to the target of criminal investigations and public criticism. Now she's running for U.S. Senate? this woman who resides at the heart of many ethical case studies? please. say it isn't so. After Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein have been worthless in helping U.S. family members with immigrants in need of help with torture, such as me, I would NEVER vote for either one again. They were both non-caring and Dianne Feinstein's office claimed they didn't help immigrant families, then went on and helped one that didn't need their life saved as many Central Americans have.[8] Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina is holding a town-hall forum in Garden Grove tomorrow, and says she'll make a "major announcement" there - an announcement expected to be her declaration that she's running for U.S. Senate against incumbent Democrat Barbara Boxer.[20] Carly Fiorina, once one of the most powerful captains of Silicon Valley, has set her sights on Washington: the former Hewlett-Packard CEO, unceremoniously shown the door after shareholder dissatisfaction with the merger with Compaq she engineered, officially announced her candidacy Wednesday for the U.S. Senate seat now held by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif). Her platform? Jobs, health care reform, spending cuts, and striking "a balance between protecting our environment and protecting the economy."[21]
The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) has made no endorsement in the California Senate race, but party leaders favor former Hewlett-Packard executive Carly Fiorina (R), a wealthy centrist whom many believe could give Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) a strong challenge.[22] The former Hewlett-Packard executive delayed the announcement to recover from chemotherapy. She touts her business experience, the focus of a challenge by Republican Assemblyman Chuck DeVore. Carly Fiorina, a former Hewlett-Packard executive, announces that she's a candidate in the Republican primary for the seat held by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.).[3] Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, is expected to formally launch her long-awaited Republian campaign against Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer sometime this week. She has public appearances scheduled Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, though the campaign is not disclosing at what event, specifically, she will make her announcement. Her main rival for the GOP nomination, state Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, is hoping for a big announcement of his own.[23]
Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina has announced that she is running for Democrat Barbara Boxer's senate seat in California.[24]
Polls currently show Boxer with a double digit lead against Fiorina, but that will no doubt change as the campaign mounts in full swing. Barbara Boxer has never been a terribly popular politician since her first election and her approval ratings have rarely been above 50% throughout her almost 18 year career in the Senate. On top of that, her last three campaigns have been against relatively conservative white men who had a hard time reaching out to moderate Republicans and independents (Although California is a relatively liberal state, it has one of the more conservative Republican parties in the country). Running against a women who campaigns on her business experience would provide a new test for the aggressive campaign style of Barbara Boxer.[9] The most cherished American credo is that anyone can grow up and run for high office. Even by California standards, this was a curious event. If nothing else, it may establish the Fiorina campaign as a pioneer in moving the art of product placement out of Hollywood and into politics, as it started with an introduction by Earth Friendly's PR lady, Kelly Vlahakis-Hanks, who seemed to spend more time extolling her merchandise ("We deliver responsible sustainability in all of our products, including our bestsellers, Ecos Wave and Dishmate.") than Fiorina's candidacy. It did give Fiorina an aura of being the business-friendly Senate candidate. This plainly will be a major theme of her campaign against Democratic incumbent Barbara Boxer. (Assuming Fiorina beats state Assemblyman of Irvine in the GOP primary.) When I examined a Fiorina-Boxer matchup two months ago, I noted that few could argue that we wouldn't benefit from seeing Boxer defend her 17-year record in the Senate, and asked whether Fiorina would make the race about us, the voters, rather than about the most frequent subject of her public appearances and her 2006 book, "Tough Choices," herself.[25]
Fiorina will run as a Republican against Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) The ex-Silicon Valley executive's entrance into the campaign means that she will face conservative state Assemblyman Chuck DeVore (R) in a June primary.[26] "For many years I felt disconnected from the decisions made in Washington and, to be honest, really didn't think my vote mattered because I didn't have a direct line of sight from my vote to a result." She also took swipes at Boxer -- both in her op-ed and, according to the Associated Press, at an invitation-only event in Orange County. She told her audience that Boxer sat by penning novels while spending soared and jobs vanished. The former CEO could give Boxer one of the most formidable opponents that she has faced, but Fiorina must get through the Republican primary. Her opponent will probably be state Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, who hasbeen working to gather voters and build his campaign. After being fired from H-P in 2005 for costing jobs by acquiring Compaq Computer,Fiorina becameeconomic adviser to Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., during his presidential campaign.[27] Fiorina was one of the powerful U.S. technology executives and the driving force behind HP's controversial acquisition of Compaq Computer, turning the Silicon Valley pioneer into a behemoth with billions in annual revenue in line with that of IBM. HP's poor performance resulted in her ouster in 2005 with a $21 million severance package. She rose to national prominence again as a senior adviser to Republican Party presidential candidate John McCain in the 2008 race. She said the main problems she would tackle were "too few jobs for Americans and too much spending in Washington." She also warned that health care legislation wending its way through Congress worried her. Fiorina has survived breast cancer, which she noted. "Rather than remaking the entire national health care system at the cost of higher taxes and exploding deficits, we should build on what works, such as expanding access to community clinics that will give those most in need appropriate care at a reasonable price." A Field Poll in October prior to her announcement showed she had lost an edge against state Assemblyman Chuck DeVore in the race for the Republican nomination.[13] '''First, I think it will bring quite a bit more attention to the primary and secondly, I'''m looking forward to having a good debate over which direction the Republican Party is going,''' said DeVore, who on Tuesday received an endorsement from prominent conservative Sen. Jim DeMint, R-South Carolina. Exemplifying that difference, he said, is his opposition to the federal bailout of Wall Street. He noted that Fiorina was the chief financial advisor to John McCain'''s presidential campaign when he embraced the bailout. Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spokesman Eric Schultz this morning fired a shot at Fiorina even before she'd made her announcement, and gave a preview of the attacks she's going to be facing in the campaign. '''The hallmark of Carly Fiorina'''s resume is her tenure at Hewlett-Packard where she laid-off 28,000 Americans while shipping jobs overseas ''' just before taking a $21 million golden parachute," he said.[12]
The Queen of outsourcing jobs overseas. I wonder what she will do in the Senate. Wasn't her famous comment of: "We in America are not guarenteed jobs." enough for voters. I don't like Boxer, but this is a poor choice as well. Carly Fiorina was a joke with HP. She was so much of a joke with John McCain he fired her. She has no experience and to make up for that she cheated using Twitter, what other tricks will she use in her out of control self indulgent try for political office. Chuck DeVore can help restore this country to fiscal sanity and solvency.[28] Carly Fiorina is now running for the republican nomination for the U.S. senate in California, says her website. Cara Fiorina is a top notch female executive who once worked as CEO at Hewlett Packard (HP) and AT & T. She is considered to be an up and coming powerful business woman and has previously served as a top economic advisor to republican ex-presidential candidate John McCain. Cara Carleton was born in Austin, Texas and obtained her MBA from RH Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland. She also has a Masters of Science in Management from MIT Sloan School of management.[19] Carly Fiorina, former chief executive of Hewlett-Packard, announced her candidacy for the U.S. Senate yesterday, putting her in the running for the Republican nomination in California.[29] FORMER Hewlett-Packard chairwoman and chief executive Carly Fiorina said yesterday that she intends to run as a Republican candidate for the California Senate.[30]
Carly Fiorina, the former chief executive of Hewlett-Packard who became a campaign adviser to Senator John McCain's presidential bid, is formally announcing on Wednesday that she plans to run for the United States Senate. She began the article by conceding that she hadn't always been engaged in the political process, but contended that she could no longer stand by during the economic downturn and a "jobless recovery." In addition to the economy, Ms. Fiorina cited her interest in the overhaul of the health care system, personalizing the issue by noting that she is a cancer survivor. (She underwent surgery for breast cancer last March.) "Rather than remaking the entire national health care system at the cost of higher taxes and exploding deficits, we should build on what works, such as expanding access to community clinics that will give those most in need appropriate care at a reasonable price," she wrote.[31] Just what we need, another self absorbed promoter running for political office. Here we have a lousy, arrogant former CEO from HP that made the "CNBC worst CEO of all times list" thinking that now she has what it take to be a U.S. Senator. I heartily support her in her ability to lead this great nation. Is this woman for real? She gets booted from HP for misconduct related to illegal wiretaping and now claims to bring people together and solve problems? She only brings them together in a court of law and the only problem solving is done by her lawyers. Sensing a threat to her personal finances from a possible public healthcare option, Carly Fiorina decides to run for Senate, claiming the two solutions for public healthcare is to promote outpatient clinics over regular doctors and to take away meaningful legal recourse for malpractice. Thats quite a platform.[28] For Carly Fiorina, the former Hewlett Packard CEO planning to run for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in California, "www" does not stand for World Wide Web; it stands for wild, wild West, and needs more government oversight. You might find it surprising that a technology leader would advocate more government controls for this landmark development for freer speech worldwide.[32] Carly Fiorina has announced for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate, to run against incumbent Democrat Barbara Boxer next year.[33] Carly Fiorina, the former Hewlett Packard CEO, announced her candidacy Wednesday for the U.S. Senate seat held by California Democrat Barbara Boxer.[6] As Sen. Barbara Boxer, California Democrat, oversees the markup of her centerpiece cap-and-trade legislation Tuesday morning, it's a sure bet that Carly Fiorina will be taking notes. Although the Republican Fiorina has yet to announce her candidacy for California's 2010 Senate race, Mrs. Fiorina has been drawing attention to Mrs. Boxer's management of the legislation.[11] Former Hewlett-Packard chief Carly Fiorina on Wednesday announced that she will run challenge Sen. Barbara Boxer for her California Senate seat in 2010.[34] We are excited Carly Fiorina is a brilliant woman, she would be an asset to the Senate, and a great change for California. It would be grand to see Boxer, box up her stuff and move on. Are you Fiorina supporters stupid, or just plain ignorant? Carly was FIRED from Hewlett-Packard after sucking tens of millions of dollars out of the company for her salary, then allowed to continue to exercise bad judgement until one of the best American companies was run into the ground. Do you folks realize she made hundreds of millions of dollars when she and the Compaq CEO joined the two companies and laid off tens of thousands of American workers, and then took tens of millions of dollars with her as a firing bonus? Definitely not the person to solve California's problems.[24]
As the one-time CEO of a high-profile tech company has the name ID and capacity to self-fund that could make it a real contest. She also has baggage stemming from her ouster from Hewlett-Packard in 2005. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee on Wednesday highlighted Fiorina's controversial record at H-P. "The hallmark of Carly Fiorina's resume is her tenure at Hewlett-Packard where she laid-off 28,000 Americans while shipping jobs overseas - just before taking a $21 million golden parachute," Communications Director Eric Schultz said in a release.[35] The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee isn't waiting for the primary to conclude to begin knocking Fiorina's credentials. In a statement released this morning, DSCC spokesman Eric Schultz indicates which angle the committee will take against her. "The hallmark of Carly Fiorina's resume is her tenure at Hewlett-Packard where she laid-off 28,000 Americans while shipping jobs overseas - just before taking a $21 million golden parachute," said Schultz.[16] National Democrats, meanwhile, appear eager to take on Fiorina, who left Hewlett-Packard five years ago amid controversy. "The hallmark of Carly Fiorina's résumé is her tenure at Hewlett-Packard, where she laid off 28,000 Americans while shipping jobs overseas, just before taking a $21 million golden parachute," National Senatorial Campaign Committee spokesman Eric Schultz said.[36] Of course, that background does give ample ammunition to the Democrats to use against her. "The hallmark of Carly Fiorina's r''sum'' is her tenure at Hewlett-Packard, where she laid off 28,000 Americans while shipping jobs overseas, just before taking a $21 million golden parachute," National Senatorial Campaign Committee spokesman Eric Schultz said. Whether that assessment is fair or accurate, expect to see and hear it repeated loud and often by her opponents.[17]
Wednesday's event leads me to wonder not whether it will be about us, or Fiorina, or Boxer, but whether it will be about anything. Fiorina spent most of her time onstage rehearsing a threadbare script. She reviewed her bona-fides as a glamorous business leader, reminding the audience of her tenure as chairwoman and chief executive of Hewlett-Packard Co. starting in 1999, without making too much of the fact that she was fired by the Hewlett-Packard board in 2005, or that its stock declined by 60% on her watch. She mentioned that HP is now one of the country's leading high-tech companies, but managed not to give too much credit to her successor, Mark Hurd, who led the turnaround. She may not have succeeded in settling the riddle of whether she's really serious about politics. Already she has been embarrassed by the disclosure that she failed to vote in 75% of California state elections since 2000, including all gubernatorial elections and presidential primaries. During her reign at Hewlett-Packard, according to public records, her corporation spent $4.7 million to lobby Congress and donated more than $390,000 to political candidates through its political action committee. [25] The company has since rebounded, but opinions differ over how much credit Fiorina deserves for that. Fiorina's name is familiar in the business community, but she is virtually unknown to most voters. The 55-year-old served as economic adviser to John McCain's failed presidential bid last year, elevating her national profile, but an independent Field Poll last month found nearly three of four California voters didn't know enough about her to express an opinion. Fiorina has plenty of money to broadcast her message. She received a $21 million severance package when she left HP — a cash cushion that has made Boxer's team nervous. Even before her announcement, Boxer used the threat of a Fiorina candidacy to boost her own fundraising, collecting $1.6 million in the last quarter and reporting $6.3 million in the bank last month. "If Fiorina decides to fund the campaign with her own personal wealth, this could be the most expensive Boxer campaign yet," said Rose Kapolczynski, a spokeswoman for Boxer's campaign.[4] "Let's put every government budget and every government bill on the Internet for every citizen to see." Fiorina, 55, served as Hewlett Packard chief for six years until 2005, when she was forced to resign after the company's share price had plummeted. In 2008 she served as an economic advisor to the failed presidential campaign of Republican John McCain. Boxer, 68, who was elected in 1992, has already announced her plans to run for a fourth term in 2010.[37] "After chemothereapy, Barbara Boxer just really isn't that scary any more, especially when you know what to expect," said Fiorina, who battled breast cancer last spring. "She has always taken the low road to high office." Though spending most of her life outside of politics, Fiorina is no stranger to the campaign trail, having served as one of then-Republican presidential candidate John McCain's chief surrogates in 2008. Fiorina was eventually sidelined from that campaign after telling an interviewer that she didn't think either member of the GOP presidential ticket was qualified to run a major company.[36]
Political experience? Not so much. Fiorina was the very visible chief economic advisor to unsuccessful 2008 Republican Presidential candidate John McCain until she took the bait in a interview and said the war hero and senior senator from Arizona she worked for couldn't run a company. (Earlier she had said the same of McCain running mate Sarah Palin ''' but somehow she got a pass on that one). The would-be Republican Senator says that while she used to be "disengaged" from the electoral process because she didn't see how it mattered, she has since "realize that thinking was wrong" and "now understand, in a very real way, that the decisions made by the Senate impact every family and every business, of any size, in America."[21]
California Democratic Party Chairman John Burton mocked Fiorina as "yet another millionaire neophyte in search of a new hobby," an apparent reference to former eBay Inc. CEO Meg Whitman, a Republican running for governor. "The last thing Californians need in a U.S. senator is a failed CEO who was fired by her last employer," Burton said in a statement. Hewlett-Packard's board fired Fiorina in 2005 after she pushed through the company's acquisition of Compaq Computer Corp. in a deal that cost jobs and reduced HP's value.[4] Its funny how Carly talks about to few jobs in Amercia,when she was at HP she cut thousands of "AMERICAN" jobs from the employees that worked for HP in the United States. Is her conscious nagging at her for all the HP careers she destroyed. This was not done because HP was not making year to year profits, it was.This was done so she and her "good old boys club could get a bigger yearly bonus.She now has the gall to talk about American lost jobs. The employees affected were told " this is just industry standard practice". Well I guess I'm an "industry standard worker who remembers" and a lepord doesn't change its spots. Look what she did for John McCain on his staff. If you people in California elect her for a senator then heaven help you all. I don't care if Mickey Mouse was running against her thats who would get my vote.[38]
California needs someone who is a person of action with a plan for economic growth. Carly Fiorina thinks outside the box and Californians will learn quickly that she will bring jobs and economic growth to this great state in weeks not years. It is great news for my wife Mary Beth, myself and our California friends to have the possibility of this incredible woman of action available for political service. She will once again put California on the map as a place of progress, jobs, and compassion for others.[8] Why not: it works. The only person I can think of who was similarly disengaged in his past was Ross Perot, but the famous entrepreneur over came all of his weaknesses with a blast of personality in his Presidential run. The other question I have is will Carly invite the Right Wingnuts to help her in her Senate bid? They lost their last election, that in New York State's 23rd District when Bill Owens beat Doug Hoffman, and were rejected by Republican gubenatorial candidate and now Governor-elect Bob McDonnell in Virginia. Can Carly keep the Right Wingnuts off her campaign and present a blast of personality that overcomes her weaknesses? I have my doubts, but let's see if "Carly 2.0" is really a new version of Carly Fiorina or just a marketing slogan.[7] Former Hewlett-Packard Chief Executive Carly Fiorina will formally announce her run for the U.S. Senate this morning at a news conference in Garden Grove.[28] Carly Fiorina, former chairwoman and chief executive officer of Hewlett-Packard Co., takes questions from reporters about her voting record, after announcing her run for the California Senate seat, during a tour of the Earth Friendly Products facility in Garden Grove, Calif. on Wednesday.[6]
"Given that record, the United States Senate is the last place Carly Fiorina should go next. "Fiorina'''s political debut has generated serious questions over her nonexistent voting record, an atrocious tenure at Hewlett-Packard Given how well her debut went, the rest of her campaign should be equally entertaining.''' The San Francisco Chronicle has reported that Fiorina voted in just 5 of 18 elections since registering to vote in Santa Clara County in 2000, and she has acknowledged that she hasn't participated in voting as much as she should have.[12] "Given that record, the United States Senate is the last place Carly Fiorina should go next." Before she gets a shot at Boxer, Fiorina has to first dispatch a primary challenge from state Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, who is running to her right.[35] The San Francisco Chronicle reported in June that Fiorina voted in just one-in-four local, state and national elections in the Bay Area since 2000. "Admittedly, I have not always been engaged in the electoral process, and I should have been," writes Fiorina, who also discussed her voting record, along with taxes and abortion, in an interview with a California Republican blog. Although Fiorina will be well-funded, she does not have a clear path to the general election. DeVore, who will challenge her on conservative principles, was endorsed yesterday by Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.). This is DeMint's latest foray into a 2010 Senate GOP primary -- he also endorsed Marco Rubio in Florida, instead of party favorite Gov. Charlie Crist. Fiorina will also get be getting some help from the party establishment, as The Hill reports she will attend a Washington fundraiser hosted by a number of senators, including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and McCain.[16] As in the special election in New York and the Senate contest in Florida, California could emerge as a state in which a clash takes place. Fiorina is not as liberal as the New York Republican, but she does not have the conservative bona fides DeVore does. Fiorina is expected to make her candidacy official this week.[22]
The rest of us do. Why not Washington?" she asked. She promised not to support higher taxes until Congress learns to spend responsibly. Fiorina's announcement comes a day after Republicans took control of governors' seats from Democrats in Virginia and New Jersey, but Fiorina did not allude to those contests. Boxer is no beloved figure in California, but she easily won re-election in 1998 and 2004. Any Republican will come to the contest with disadvantages in left-leaning California: Democrats hold a 13-percentage-point registration advantage, President Barack Obama carried the state in November by 24 points, and both of California's U.S. Senate seats have been in Democratic hands since the early 1990s.[4]
Boxer has the edge in Democratic-leaning California, but Fiorina's entry means the race will be among the most closely watched in the nation. The charismatic former business leader could be Boxer's greatest challenge since her election to the Senate in 1992. That's if Fiorina emerges the victor in what is likely to be a bruising Republican primary. She announced her candidacy in Orange County, home turf of the conservative assemblyman who is her only challenger in the primary.[8]
NRSC Chairman John Cornyn pointed to Fiorina in September as an example of a "strong female candidate" running as a Republican in 2010. A string of conservative bloggers have lined up behind DeVore, and South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint said Tuesday that he was backing the assemblyman. The winner of that race will face three-term Sen. Barbara Boxer in November. Boxer's favorable rating stood at 48 percent in a recent Field poll, a number that gives Republicans hope she is vulnerable against a well-funded opponent. Boxer is known to be a formidable political opponent, but Fiorina said Wednesday that she's ready for the challenge.[36] Ms. Fiorina will probably have to compete for the Republican nomination in a primary against state Assemblyman Chuck DeVore. Mr. DeVore has been working for months to shore up support for his bid. Both he and Senator Boxer may find Ms. Fiorina's personal wealth a daunting competitive force; Mrs. Boxer's campaign staff has already taken note of Ms. Fiorina's fortune. The Associated Press reported that Mrs. Boxer had "used the threat of a Fiorina candidacy to boost her own fundraising, collecting $1.6 million in the last quarter and reporting $6.3 million in the bank last month." Her spokeswoman, Rose Kapolczynski, told The A.P.: "If Fiorina decides to fund the campaign with her own personal wealth, this could be the most expensive Boxer campaign yet.[31] A Field Poll in October showed Fiorina trailing Republican state Assemblyman Chuck DeVore in the race, although most voters were still undecided. Both Republicans trailed Boxer by double digits in the poll. At a town-hall event in Southern California announcing her candidacy, the breast cancer survivor announced she was ready to fight.[14]
In an echo of the Barack Obama, who won California with 61 percent of the vote in the 2008 presidential race, Fiorina concluded, "I believe big change is not impossible, but it does require leadership, innovative thinking, teamwork and tackling the most obvious and pressing problems first." National Republicans think Fiorina could mount a serious challenge to Boxer, the third-term senator whose aggressive brand of liberal politics has made her the more vulnerable of California's two Democratic senators.[35]
Boxer campaign manager Rose Kapolczynsk said in response to Fiorina's endorsement, "California needs a Senator who will fight to create jobs - not a failed CEO who laid off 28,000 Americans and shipped jobs overseas."[26] While Fiorina may very well be a Washington outsider, her views and actions show a history of antagonizing the worker and making company policy that clearly is very much in line with the Corporatacry entrenched in business and politics today. She is the antithesis of this CEO club. She started the demoralization of workers at HP that is only accelerating today with Mark Hurd at the helm. They are repungnant modern day robber barons - Steal from the poor and keep for themselves. Don't forget, she once said, paraphrasing, "Americans do not have a God given right to jobs in this country". For someone who was one of the biggest contributors in outsourcing HP jobs overseas, her comments in the article refering to creating jobs in California would be laughable if it wasn't so devastating to thousands of workers and their families who were put out of work by this woman.[8] Fiorina acts only for the members of the elite class in this country. She has no sympathy for working and middle-class families. All you have to do is study her actions while she was CEO of HP. She increased the salaries of the top executives, lowered the number of workers, cut worker pay and benefits, increased low-wage part-time outsourced workers, and sent jobs overseas. And, while HP workers with decades of service were made to suffer by Fiorina, she lived a lavish life in the executive suite and jetted about the world in new company jets. Right, if you like working part-time without benefits for Manpower Inc. Fiorina is another elitist who sees her purpose in life as making sure that money in this country goes to the top and stays there. It's worse than trickle-down economics. Fiorina wants you to have nothing while she and her kind have it all.[12]
Fiorina, who recently completed breast cancer treatment, also called for health care reform — but not in the form of a national health system. She instead suggested expanding community clinic access and putting stricter restrictions on medical malpractice lawsuits. The 55-year-old former Silicon Valley executive served as economic adviser to John McCain's failed presidential bid last year, a position that elevated her national profile. Before that, she had a public falling out with HP board members, who fired her in 2005 after she pushed through the company's acquisition of Compaq Computer Corp. in a deal that caused job losses and reduced HP's value.[5] Fiorina was the driving force behind HP's controversial acquisition of Compaq Computer, turning the Silicon Valley pioneer into a behemoth with billions in annual revenue in line with that of IBM. HP's poor performance resulted in her sacking in 2005 with a $21m (£12.7bn) severance package. She rose to national prominence again as a senior adviser to Republican Party presidential candidate John McCain in the 2008 race. As a relative newcomer to politics, she face a battle to get party nominations.[30] Fiorina also messed up during John McCain's failed presidential bid. She was an economic advisor to McCain, but she slipped when she said she didn't think he was qualified to run a major corporation like HP. The McCain team cut her loose after the faux pas. I think the right strategy for Fiorina is to not run on her record, but to admit that she made a lot of mistakes. She has to run on being a candidate for change and argue that she has managed to change with the times herself.[39] Prior to HP, Fiorina was at Lucent Technologies. Fiorina served as an economic advisor to former presidential hopeful John McCain during the 2008 election, and there was some buzz that she was considered as his running mate. She played a less prominent role during the campaign, however, after she suggested in an interview that neither McCain nor his VP choice, Sarah Palin, had enough experience to run a major corporation.[34]
People who don't bother to vote have no business running for elected office. Will the republican party of california be paying for her hair dresser to travel with her. As she expected at HP. Got run out of HP, "helped" McCain campaign, and now this. This should turn out good.[8] HP had nowhere to go but UP after her. Carly admits to lacking experience, which makes her inexperienced to hold office. She freely admits to irresponsibly taking herself out of the loop of caring for America by refusing to vote in our participatory democracy, while she instead enthusiastically participated in enriching herself at HP just before it fired her for lack of effective performance in a business environment. Carly likely expects to enrich herself even more if she wins the senatorial seat and, once in, would likely attempt right away to transfer her underperforming experience at HP to underperform in Washington DC as a representative of California. It's a combination that the U.S. dos not need, nor deserve, after eight years of her party, the GOP, enriching the rich elites like herself while weakening the economy for the majority of hard-working Americans under the incompetent and destructive leadership of Vice President Dick Cheney, Comedian Rush Limbaugh, and President George W. Bush. For these significant reasons, it's imprudent and unwise for anyone but the elite rich to support her candidacy.[8] Carly was an abject failure as HP CEO, taking the stock price from $65 to $13 and being fired none too quickly. Now she was too busy to be a good citizen and vote, has no political experience, and is now running an ego-driven, money-wasting campaign for senator? Hope California realizes she is not the right candidate.[31] HP did nothing but go down hill as an employer after Carly Fiorina took the helm. I have not seen anything in her actions that tells me that I could trust her as a leader. When she came to our site after being brought in as CEO she spoke of the soul of Hewlette Packard. Now the comkpany has no soul and Bill & Dave are rolling in their graves. Woohoo! Carly Fiorina is BAAAACK! If she does as bad of a job with her senate seat as she did running HP and Lucent she might last one term.[8] Photo: Carly Fiorina in September 2008. The former chairwoman and CEO of Hewlett-Packard Co. will formally announce her run for the U.S. Senate.[28] Former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina on Wednesday officially announced her candidacy for U.S. Senate after months of speculation.[26]
U.S. Senate hopeful Carly Fiorina recently compared the Internet to the wild West.[32]
I find it quite ironic that Carly is running for a U.S. Senate seat partly on the issue of Americans jobs. She and her sidekick Ann Livermore were known internally (HP/Compaq) as the outsourcing queens. She didn't think anything of that when she laid off 200+ people in Massachusetts. She told the employees just be fore the ax that "there were smart people everywhere". What she meant was that there were "cheap people everywhere" and she could fatten the bottom line by dumping american workers for cheap labor in India. She also spent millions of dollars at the same time on a couple of new jets to replace a perfectly good set of jets obtained during the Compaq takeover.[38] "Carly Fiorina may have millions to spend on a Senatorial race, but Californians will not be snookered by yet another millionaire neophyte in search of a new hobby. "Maybe Fiorina's ill-advised run for Senate will finally inspire her to take the time to vote.[7]
Bad reporting. $21 million may sound like a lot but it is pennies for a state-wide campaign for Governor. Understanding the underlying dynamics of this race requires that one understand that Fiorina can't fully self-fund. Her wealth allows her to build/retain campaign staff, poll, and do some campaigning but both she AND Devore have to raise money. That is what will be interesting - can she? Reporting on that would help LA Times readers make sense of what they will see in the coming months. After nearly sending HP to disaster with her ill-conceived acquisition with Compaq, Ms Fiorina is somehow turning her disastrous "leadership" into a success story worthy of Senatorial ambitions.[8] Anyone who votes for this farce needs their head examined. Fiorina did such a sterling job at HP that they paid her $21.4 million to go away. California voters should make her go away before she gets in a position to do any damage. All this criticism - yikes! Fiorina, Devore, it doesn't matter.[28]
Even Californians can't sign up for a card issued in California, so we're stuck with the South Dakota sky's-the-limit variety. Cross-state health insurance wouldn't affect Fiorina, because as she acknowledged Wednesday, she gets her medical care through her husband's AT&T retirement plan. Therefore it's my duty to explain to her what would happen if she were an average person who lost that AT&T coverage and had to replace it in an individual market where the insurers could sell it to her on their own terms, subject to the rules of the most lenient and consumer-unfriendly states: As a cancer survivor, she'd be uninsurable. Fiorina doesn't really have to worry about that, because her $40-million walkaway package from Hewlett-Packard enables her to be her own health insurer, if need be. What about the rest of us? The common theme of ex-CEOs like Fiorina when they run for office is that their opponents are insensitive to the needs of business because they never had to meet a payroll.[25] Fair question, and yes, I'd love to know. I downloaded the thing off the government website :h3962ih.txt.pdf where it's been published, and now have the full text in hand, for perusal at my leisure. Imagine my surprise to discover that it's no secret. One would think that as a former high-tech executive, Fiorina would be on top of advances like the government's Thomas website, where all such bills can be found, but maybe she finds it more to her political advantage to pretend it doesn't exist. More disturbing is her advocacy of allowing insurers to sell policies across state lines. This is a "reform" the insurance industry has been after for years, because it would allow them to evade the more stringent regulations of some states by selling all their policies out of states with hands-off regulators. For a clue to how this works, notice how credit card companies issue their cards from banks in places like South Dakota and Nevada, which have no usury limits, rather than, say, California, where the cap is 10%.[25] "Fiorina'''s chances depend entirely on the political climate next year,''' says Tony Quinn, former GOP legislative aide and co-editor of California Target Book. Her political skill ''' or lack thereof ''' will likely come into play here, experts say. '''She will have to work hard to win the nomination, showing the kind of political savvy that was distinctly missing during her unhappy tenure with the McCain campaign, ''' says John J. Pitney, a professor of American politics at Claremont McKenna College.[6]
The contest could set up another contentious GOP primary contest between a candidate favored by the base (DeVore) versus a candidate backed by the party establishment (Fiorina). In it, she addressed concerns over unemployment and "too much spending in Washington." She also took on the healthcare reform debate in Washington writing that "we should build on what works" instead of "remaking the entire healthcare system. Fiorina experienced some troubles during the exploratory phase of her campaign. The launch of her campaign website was mocked by liberals and it was reported last month that she has a spotty voting record in California. She voted in only six of 14 elections since 2000, skipping presidential primaries in 2000 and 2004 as well as the state's recalll election for governor in 2003.[26] Carly Fiorina is a novice candidate whose campaign has gotten off to a poor start. She's not ready, and she's no more likely to beat Boxer than DeVore is. DeVore will put up a good fight, and he's proven on the issues. This race is not one of Erick Erickson's hills to die on, but that doesn't mean we don't stand ready to send a big message, and benefit big, from a win in this primary.[10]
Republican Carly Fiorina, former Hewlett-Packard CEO, is ready to take on Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., in the 2010 election. She also addressed her spotty voting record -- a potential problem for someone who will be asking for votes." Admittedly, I have not always been engaged in the electoral process, and I should have been," she said.[27] '''I look forward to engaging Carly Fiorina on the issues Californians care about: out-of-control federal debt, soaring government spending on bailouts and stimulus, a pending government takeover of healthcare, and Barbara Boxer's huge energy-tax increase disguised as cap-and-trade," DeVore said in a statement.[28] Will the voters of the Golden State have enough sense to keep Barbara Boxer who is one of the best of our United States Senators? Let's hope so. A failure like Carly Fiorina should be viewed as a joke, but unfortunately, she won't be.[31] Barbara Boxer is one of the worst senators in U.S. history. Even if Carly can rough her up and bit and make the Democrats spend lots of money to defend her, it will be worth it. Californians need to realize it's people like Boxer that caused the state to be in the mess it's in today.[8] "If it isn't obvious to you by now, let me make it official today: I am a candidate to serve you as your U.S. senator,''' Fiorina said, speaking to a small gathering of supporters in the Garden Grove warehouse of Earth Friendly Products, which makes green home products like phosphate-free detergent. Fiorina, whose hair was shorn close to her scalp after a nine-month battle with breast cancer, said she expected the race to get ugly. "I have to say, after chemotherapy, Barbara Boxer just isn't that scary," she said. "She has always taken the low road to higher office, so get ready. It's OK, I can take a punch and I can throw a punch."[8]
Until now, Boxer's only announced opposition was DeVore. A military officer and businessman from Irvine, he has been aggressively campaigning on a shoestring budget for months, styling himself as the only true conservative in the race. He is appealing to the party's base as the true candidate of limited government, lower taxes and conservative fiscal stewardship. DeVore, 47, said Fiorina is "attempting to sound like a conservative, and yet when you actually probe the depths of her conservatism. it's really not conservatism at all."[4] "I have to say, after chemotherapy, Barbara Boxer just isn't that scary," Fiorina said. For his part, DeVore on Wednesday trumpeted his backing by some of the conservatives who have been most vocal in their calls for a return for undiluted party principles. Among those speaking for him was Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), a conservative stalwart who had earlier endorsed DeVore.[3]
Fiorina, who has been exploring a campaign against Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer for months, is expected to announce her candidacy in person at an Orange County, Calif. event at 1 p.m. In her op-ed, Fiorina wrote that she has "not always been engaged in the electoral process," but, through her business career, began to understand the impact of government. "I now understand, in a very real way, that the decisions made by the Senate impact every family and every business, of any size, in America," she wrote. Fiorina said her top priorities in the Senate will be "economic recovery and fiscal accountability." She then went on to stake out her opposition to Democrats' proposed health care insurance overhaul.[35] Entitled CEOs who haven't had to live a normal middle-class or working-class life for years are as much of a scourge. Fiorina clearly plans to use her experience with cancer in the campaign ("After chemotherapy, Barbara Boxer just isn't really that scary anymore," she said Wednesday). She didn't display much empathy for patients whose main problem might not be that their doctors don't communicate with one another (this is one of Fiorina's preoccupations), but that they don't have access to any doctors, because they can't get insurance.[25] "What do you say that come next year, we give Barbara Boxer the chance to become a full-time novelist?" said Fiorina, the former Hewlett-Packard chief executive whose candidacy has been unofficial in name only for months.[3] "What do you say that come next year, we give Barbara Boxer the chance to become a full-time novelist?" Fiorina said, alluding to the senator's political suspense stories.[4] Barbara Boxer is actually a positive, someone who stands for something, which is substantially more than I can say for our other Senator, Dianne Feinstein. As to Fiorina's buddy, Whitman, I've been thinking of auctioning off my gubenatorial vote on E-Bay and see what she'll bid.[31]
THey keep the business killing stuff away from us helping us filibuster. Frankly, as an HP employee, I think that Carly is incompetent. but I also think that she might be electable (in theory at least female, wishy washy on abortion, etc) and she would certainly vote more Republican than Barbara Boxer.[10]
I think Fiorina stood up for Palin against the attackers. She got in trouble w/McCain when she said that neither candidate was qualified to run a corporation. I don't know the negative details of her business career. She'll face a CA assemblyman in the GOP primary. She describes herself as conservative on her facebook page. If she's a real threat to Boxer's relection, I'm sure we'll hear lots of horror stories. Fiorina did a great job when we heard her speak at the Leadership Summit in 2007.[24] Fuggeddaboutit. This one is Boxer's to lose. Carly Fiorina did an outstanding job of buying new corporate jets when she was at Hewlett Packard.[8] Fire the tax paying Americans, and ignore the complaints about the quality of service. By the way "Carly" walked away with closer to $100 Million for her five years of effort. She is riven with cancer and is more interested in the unlimited medical benefits of Boxers position than representing anyone other than herself. It's exciting for me having lived with my family in the Bakersfield area to consider the candidacy of a bright, tough, compassionate leader, Carly Fiorina.[8] "We could be looking at a $30 million or $35 million campaign. She could do a lot to remake her image with that and do a lot to distort the Boxer record." Fiorina, who recently completed breast cancer treatment, gently teased herself about her close-cropped hair, apparently the result of chemotherapy. She said the cancer was behind her and "I feel absolutely great." Boxer, 68, has long been a target of conservatives — they pounced earlier this year when she chastised a brigadier general who called her "ma'am" during a congressional hearing — but has yet to face a serious re-election challenge.[4] We could be looking at a $30 million or $35 million campaign. She could do a lot to remake her image with that and do a lot to distort the Boxer record." The businesswoman planned to hold a town-hall-style meeting later on Wednesday to make her public announcement. Considered one of the most liberal lawmakers in the Senate, Mrs. Boxer first won her seat in 1992 after serving in the House for 10 years. In 2004, she won 6,956,000 votes for re-election, more than any other senator in American history, according to the National Journal. She is now chairwoman of the powerful Environment and Public Works Committee, and is shepherding the controversial climate-change bill through the Senate.[31]
I agree that Senator Boxer is an excellent example of what's wrong with the American politics, but Carly Fiorina is an excellent example of what's wrong with American business. One of the problems this country has is that our elites - in the private and public sector - are so self-centered and so useless. I don't often agree with Peggy Noonan these days, but I agree with her recent piece, "We're Governed by Callous Children". [17] Carly Fiorina sees the state of today's global economy as a crucial period for California and American businesses to stay competitive.[18] "Given that record, the United States Senate is the last place Carly Fiorina should go next."[36] California deserves a much better choice. Don't let Fiorina buy this important Senate Seat. What strikes me as disturbing is that she thinks touting her HP record of failure is somehow a sellingpoint. She also won the worst CEO of all time award. All she has to say for herself is that she was once the CEO of HP and actually that is probably the biggest blemish you could have on your resume. HP tanked under her imcompentent stewardship.[28] Fiorina and Whitman are relative newcomers to politics and face tough primary election battles. If she secures her party's nomination, Fiorina would likely be the underdog against Boxer, who has served four terms in the Senate and has an edge in decidedly Democratic California.[14]
The looming battle between Fiorina and DeVore reflects a larger ideological schism that is dividing Republicans across the nation and led to the loss of a Republican House seat in upstate New York on Tuesday. Fiorina, 54, is making her first bid for elective office but is viewed by some in the party as having a better chance against Boxer because she holds more moderate views than DeVore and has vast personal wealth.[3] DeVore, 47, is a longtime conservative activist who is well known in state Republican circles, but has little name recognition across the state and no immediate access to money to counteract Fiorina's wealth. DeVore touted his experiences working in the Assembly, as a Reagan White House appointee and in the military. "These make me better prepared to be effective as a U.S. senator from Day One, compared to the rather thin public resume of my primary opponent," DeVore said.[3] Fiorina, long considered a possible candidate, could set the stage for an ideological battle with state Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, R-Irvine, for the Republican nomination. DeVore is a hero to many conservatives, while Fiorina is expected by some to bring a more moderate approach to her campaign.[20] Fiorina, considered to be a moderate Republican with little history on social issues, will face off against conservative California Assemblyman Chuck DeVore for the GOP nomination. In a friendly statement Wednesday, DeVore said he looks forward "to engaging on the issues Californians care about." A recent Field poll suggested that both Fiorina and DeVore polled at about 20 percent, with 60 percent of Republican voters undecided.[36]
"Let's work together and show our nation that Californians believe action trumps talk and problem-solving trumps partisanship." Although she aimed her fire at Boxer, Fiorina was also working against a conservative challenge from Assemblyman Chuck DeVore of Irvine.[3]
Fiorina and DeVore just need to keep on the offensive towards Boxer, and not turn it into a bloody internal GOP conflict. They can point out their positives and Boxer's negatives, while each simply stating that they would be more effective than their opponent. Either candidate would then have no primary soundbites from their GOP opponent for the MSM/Boxer campign to use.[17] Now is the time to reject Carly Fiorina and choose the best and wise candidate with common sense for the good of America.That candidate is Chuck Devore.[20] If Carly Fiorina will pay me back for what I lost on HP stock, while she was running the company, maybe I'll sell my vote.[31] Since being fired from HP in 2004 following the poorly-received merger, after which HP's stock plummeted ( later recovering ), the secretary-turned-CEO has helmed Carly Fiorina Enterprises, which is "focused on global economic development and grassroots individual empowerment."[21]
Carly Fiorina, is she a West Coast Scozzafava, or is she really a conservative? It would be hard to imagine someone as bad as, or worse, than Boxer is, on all of our Conservative values.[11] Like Carly Fiorina, George W Bush was also a complete failure as a business person, and he wound up as President and totally messed up the national economy. It may well be that only in our bazarro-world would Carly Fiorina be taken seriously, but she will have a lot of money behind her (especially her golden parachute).[31] If the economy is still in the stinker, there is a narrow path (i emphasize the word narrow) of victory for Carly Fiorina by emphasizing economic issues and her business background.[9]
'''If last night'''s election results are any indication, the pendulum may be swinging back in favor of Republicans.''' Fiorina is a relative newcomer to politics with deep pockets, which could work in her favor or against it, Ms. Levinson and others say. '''While Fiorina won'''t seem like a Washington insider, and could try to position herself as the breath of fresh air needed to help turn California'''s economy around, voters know little about her, other than that she was first woman to lead a Fortune 500 company and left under less-than-ideal conditions,''' says Levinson. '''In that way, she may seem like a risky choice.''' Another factor will be how well Senator Boxer deals with the kind of opponent she has never had before in a general election: a female opponent and a moderate with money. [6] Fiorina will run California like HP. I just hope the Dems have a better choice than last time.[15] Fiorina stepped down as CEO of HP in 2005 after six years. She said at the time that her resignation was the result of disagreements on HP's future. She walked away with a severance package worth a reported $21 million.[34] Not that there aren't plenty of incompetent public servants, but we really do not need another. As a businessman in the tech sector and a longtime fan of the old Hewlett-Packard, I find myself laughing -- rather scornfully -- at the mileage that Fiorina has tried to extract from her troubled tenure as CEO of HP. I hope it will escape no one's attention that Fiorina presided over a degradation of HP's products, lowered profits, misguided acquisitions, and a pervasive malaise at that company that resulted in her being, essentially, fired by the Board of Directors.[8] I will confess I don't know much about Fiorina's politics. Her tenure at CEO of Hewlett-Packard was not well received but I don't know how that translates to the responsibilities of being a U.S. Senator. The CNN article describes her as "moderate Republican with little history on social issues." The fact that she has a strong background in business in encouraging at least.[17] Fiorina is being feted at a Capitol Hill-area fundraiser next month headlined by a list of notable senators, including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. Among the others Republican senators listed as hosts of the Nov. 17 event at Bistro Bis are John McCain of Arizona, whom Fiorina served as a top surrogate in the 2008 presidential race, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, a leading conservative in the chamber and an ally of DeMint's.[23] Later this month, Fiorina will be the guest of honor at a Washington fundraiser featuring Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), John Thune (R-S.D.), Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and three others, along with veterans of McCain'''s 2008 presidential bid, for which Fiorina served as a key spokeswoman.[22] Here comes another person to purchase a seat in the Senate of the United States. She failed as leader of HP and failed as a supporter of John McCain.[28] Great - if she gets in, she'll spin off the Southern California region into another state called something like Los Angelent and set about systematically destroying most of the economic base of what's left. She's a real good candidate to ensure Dems control the Senate. She was kicked out of HP after royally screwing up the company and then screwed up her role as a McCain advisor.[8]
Except when insulting executives of color, that is. She screwed up HP so why not let her screw up California too. Anyone who worked at Hewlett-Packard during her reign will recall that she decimimated HP's employee morale and the uniquely respectufl way that HP treated its employees over the years before her arrival. I can only imagine what kind of style and subastance she would bring to the U.S. Senate.[28] I think she is a person that has done a lot of things in her life. She worked her way up in business, lost her daughter last year and is a cancer survivor. This I salute her for, but somehow I think this senate race is more of a last trophy for her then representing the people of California. Her voting record is terrible and she has never attempted to run for office as far as I know.[12] After her failure at HP, Carly should just buzz off and fade away into obscurity. Unfortunately, people like her just can't stand to take their lumps and realize they may not be everything they think they are. She's an egomaniac, an uninspiring and poor leader, and just generally dislikable. I hope she runs for the Senate seat, puts her all into it, blows a lot of her own money on the campaign.and loses dramatically and conclusively.[38]
Really. She single-handedly crippled two companies, failed to build anything of value, and spent more time promoting herself than actually running the company. Even worse, to make herself look semi-competent she surrounded herself with idiots who couldn't run the company in her absence. She was frequently absent, going on world tours promoting herself. She's the poster child for what is wrong with American industry. Of course, given the over-priced prima donnas that infest the U.S. Senate, with their long histories of failure and egos that could fill the Grand Canyon, she'll fit right in.[17] "I now understand, in a very real way, that the decisions made by the Senate impact every family and every business, of any size, in America. This is what motivates me to run for the U.S. Senate," she wrote.[5]
DeMint also backed Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman in New York before enough pressure mounted to force the more liberal GOP nominee out of the race. One of the most conservative members in the upper chamber, DeMint is also one of those least willing to compromise on Republican ideals. He offered a tepid endorsement of McCain in 2008 after his candidate, former Gov. Mitt Romney (R), dropped out of the presidential sweepstakes, and he has said he would rather have 30 pure conservatives in the Senate than a majority of centrists. [22] DeVore, who calls himself a Reagan conservative, says the contest with Fiorina will test "two visions of the Republican Party."[4] Considering that many conservative activists already feel emboldened to challenge "establishment" Republican candidates (Consider Mark Kirk in Illinois, Rob Simmons in Connecticut, Charlie Crist in Florida, etc) don't expect DeVore to step aside in the face of Fiorina's support and deep pockets.[9]
The battle between Fiorina and Chuck Devore (R-Irvine) reflects a greater ideological debate that is dividing Republicans across the nation, and led to the loss of a Republican House seat in upstate New York on Tuesday.[8] I will not settle for a jobless recovery and we must start the important work of getting our financial house back in order," Fiorina said in a statement. Fiorina will run as a Republican and challenge Boxer, a Democrat, who has held her seat for 18 years.[34] A few years ago, Boxer's team used extremely unethical and unkind methods to unfairly smear the Republican who challenged Boxer last time (Bruce Herschenson). May God bless this next opponent as she takes on a mean machine. Joel Mark: Bruce H was her opposition back in 1992, not last time. I was just thinking today that the last opponent got such poor support from the state committee that few people even knew who it was. I hope whoever gets the Repub nomination this time gets enough support so that the voters at least know that he/she is running. The last time she had real opposition she sold her daughter down river to get the I-understand vote.[24] There will be other candidates. The point is, this state has got to get rid of the mindless, egotistical thieves that have put this state and country in the mess that it is in. Boxer, Feinstein, the Sanchez thieves and Pelosi had their chance and have totally screwed you. Why would you put them back on the job. If you don't like Fiorini, don't vote for her but, find someone other than the people that are there now.[12] The Republican candidate called for smaller government, decreased spending and increased transparency. She pledged not to raise taxes and decried the "rabid partisanship" in Washington. She excoriated Boxer's legislative record and said the Democrat's positions have killed jobs in California.[8] Ms Fiorina's announcement came in a newspaper opinion article that argued the country was suffering from "too few jobs for Americans and too much spending in Washington". She sounded traditional Republican themes in complaining that taxes were too high and that "government mandates" would make the quest for affordable health insurance harder.[29]
The company makes the nation's best-selling environment-friendly laundry detergent. Fiorina said that there was a net gain in jobs over her six-year tenure. She complained that "government policy can kill jobs" and force employers to seek workers abroad. She also painted her 2005 firing as the outfall from backroom politics at the company. "My firing from Hewlett-Packard came when a couple of board members leaked information to the press," she told about 200 supporters and Earth Friendly workers at the town hall.[12] Recruited to Hewlett-Packard from Lucent Technologies in 1999, Fiorina became the first female chief executive of a Fortune 20 company. While there, she led the $19-billion buyout of Compaq Computer Corp. Fiorina's accomplishments were overshadowed by her high-profile battles with the company's board of directors, however, and she was eventually ousted. During her tenure, the company's stock plunged 49% and tens of thousands of workers were laid off.[3]
Fiorina and her husband, Frank, a former AT&T executive, have made more than $100,000 in political donations personally since 2000. That suggests not that Fiorina "felt disconnected" from what was going on in Washington, but rather that she understood all too well that in politics, money talks. Candidate Fiorina probably will be judged less by her approach to politics in the past than by what she contributes on the issues of today. It's evident from her campaign material that she plans to use her experience as a cancer survivor -- she says she successfully completed chemo and radiation treatment for breast cancer -- as an entree into the healthcare reform debate. Her approach to this issue so far is less than compelling. She called for "transparency" in the debate.[25] On the way out, Fiorina received a $21 million severance package — a cash cushion that has made Boxer's team nervous. Even before her announcement, Boxer used the threat of a Fiorina candidacy to boost her own fundraising, collecting $1.6 million in the last quarter and reporting $6.3 million in the bank last month. "This could be the toughest Boxer campaign yet.[5] Fiorina said Boxer has demonstrated an "utter failure to lead" and has a "track record of bitter and ineffective partisanship." On her campaign Web site, Fiorina did not list technology among her top issues, focusing instead on small businesses and jobs, taxes, energy, and healthcare. Within the taxes category, however, she said she would make sure "every federal budget goes up on the Internet" and "every bill goes into the Internet." Federal legislation is currently posted on the Thomas Web site, an arm of the Library of Congress, within several days of its introduction.[34] Fiorina's campaign put out a release calling the DSCC's criticism "no surprise." "This is Barbara Boxer's typical campaign tactic - to distort, mischaracterize and misrepresent her opponent's record," the release read.[35] "I have to say, after chemotherapy, Barbara Boxer is not so scary," Fiorina, 55, told the crowd. Making light of Boxer's sideline writing politically charged potboilers, she said, "Let's say we give Barbara Boxer the chance next year to be a full-time novelist."[14] "After chemothereapy, Barbara Boxer just really isn't that scary any more, especially when you know what to expect," said Fiorina, who battled breast cancer last spring. "She has always taken the low road to high office."[17]
He'''s the kind of leader who we can count on to stand up for common-sense conservative principles in the United States Senate,''' DeMint said on a conference call Tuesday evening. '''If grassroots conservatives get behind him, he can win the primary in June and go on to defeat Barbara Boxer in November.'''[22] Barbara Boxer has been an impassioned advocate on many issues like clean energy in the Senate.[31]
The problem which is being ignored in Washington by the administration and Senators like Barbara Boxer is the dismal economy and a lack of effort to restore or create jobs.[8] Personally, I'd support just about anyone over Barbara Boxer. Being "not Barbara Boxer" isn't enough to qualify her for the job. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the coming year.[17] The Silicon Valley star will take on Liberal Democrat Barbara Boxer, who now holds the seat. She said the main problems she would tackle were "too few jobs for Americans and too much spending in Washington". She also warned that health care legislation wending its way through Congress worried her.[30]
"Our most pressing problems today are too few jobs for Americans and too much spending in Washington," Fiorina wrote.[37]
Under energy, Fiorina said that the creation of clean, green technology will create new jobs and will allow California to be a leader in innovation. Politicians have to make sure that "when entrepreneurs come up with these great technologies they don't find it so hard to build a manufacturing plant" in California that they go to other states or overseas, she said.[34] '''There are different motivations for women voters now,''' says Barbara O'''Connor, director of the Institute for Study of Politics and Media at California State University, Sacramento. She says both national pollster Gallup and California Field Poll have identified a new voting phenomenon that has replaced last year'''s '''soccer mom''' ''' the '''worried suburban mom''' who, she says, may be hungrier for a politician like Boxer.[6] I live in Orange County, CA and most of us see Chuck Devore as a clown. He is just a do nothing right wing tool. On second thought maybe DeMint knows him well. Devore sounds like a typical conservative candidate.As a Dem I can only hope he is Boxer's opponent. Sorry AdamC - but the Founding Fathers and their principles which gave us our liberty; were the same ones that allowed slavery to persist in the United States. The Founding Fathers, while intelligent, were not all-seeing by any stretch, nor did they expect themselves to be. Typical Southern answer, they hate big gov't and yet for every dollar they put into the tax pool, they get $1.25 back in benefits.[22] I live in California and Chuck Devore has shown himself to be true to consevative principles, where other Republicans have shown their rino ways. Devore can win this if we get behind him! Boxer is from Pelosi town and really needs to be shown the door. If we can get Boxer out this would be a HUGE message to the liberals.[10] I know many Americans of Mexican dissent who voted for Prop. 8. Over 40% of them voted for Prop. 8. I served with Chuck Devore for eight years on the Orange County Republican Central Committee, and I found him to be one of the more reliablly conservative votes on that body that was controlled by Tom Fuentes.[20] DeMint is rarely persuaded by appeals to party loyalty. Earlier this year, he became one of several very conservative Republican senators to back former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio (R) over Gov. Charlie Crist (R). Now he is backing DeVore.[22]
Conservative DC types are taking advantage of the new neutrality, too, starting with Senator Jim DeMint endorsing DeVore, while Fiorina has the backing of South Carolina's other Senator, Lindsey Graham.[10] While DeVore began campaigning early in the year - and made up a significant gap behind Fiorina in the polls ''' the businesswoman has spent much of the year battling breast cancer. While she sported close-cropped gray hair Wednesday, she appeared lively and healthy. Fiorina vowed to bridge the divide of partisanship, which could be a signal that she'll be poised as a moderate in the primary against DeVore, a hero to many conservatives. She said she supports gay couples having the same rights as married heterosexuals, but doesn't back gay marriage. She's also said she's "personally" opposed to abortion, leaving open what her public position will be.[12] '''Fiorina is not a sure thing to get the nomination,''' says Robert Stern, president of CGS. '''Chuck Devore will appeal to the conservative base who will be energized to vote in the primary. While she will outspend Devore, he has the troops.[6]
"I will put my record of accomplishment against hers any day." In terms of job creation, she said she would focus on encouraging innovative small businesses. Taxes should not be raised on small business, they should have better access to credit, and there should be an overhaul of regulations on businesses, she said. DeVore said he welcomed Fiorina'''s entry into the race for two reasons.[12] In a press release, the DeVore campaign said it "welcomes Fiorina's candidacy as part of the great pageant of American democracy -- and we eagerly anticipate making the case for a principled, Constitutional, and engaged conservatism." UPDATE: In her announcement speech in Orange County, Fiorina said she was "extremely proud" of her record at H-P and pointed to the company's current performance and long term growth as a result, in part, of her leadership.[35]
"As California's senator, economic recovery and fiscal accountability will be my priorities." Fiorina opened her op-ed with an explanation of her spotty voting record, which has dogged her campaign even before she officially entered the race.[16] Fiorina would be the fifth Silicon Valley executive to compete in a statewide race in California next year.[5] Fiorina is not the only tech executive dabbling in California politics. In February, former eBay CEO Meg Whitman announced that she is running for governor as a Republican.[34] In an election season in which the state's economic condition is set to dominate the debate, Fiorina is now the second high-profile former CEO running for statewide office in California. Former eBay CEO Meg Whitman announced last month she is running for governor.[36]
Why would the voters of California want to replace one of the best U.S. senators with a failed corporate executive? I dearly hope that Fiorina and Meg Whitman will be crying on each other's shoulders come election night 2010.[31] In vying for the Republican nomination, Fiorina becomes the latest Silicon Valley executive hoping to get on the California ballot next autumn.[14]
I know which name and which endorsement have more clout with the grass roots, the Tea Partiers, and other activists who will be essential to any Republican challenge of Boxer. Does Fiorina, who decided to try to drown out this news by announcing her formal candidacy.[10] If I have to choose between Boxer, DeVore or Fiorina, I'll choose Fiorina. I'm tired of POLITICS AS USUAL career politicians who view their constituents as children who should be talked down to. I too worked at HP under the reign of Fiorina, and despite advancing through three higher and higher positions, got no increase in salary because of her shenanigans.[21] The poll also showed that 17-year incumbent Boxer led Fiorina 49 percent to 35 percent, and led DeVore 50 percent to 33 percent.[12] A Field Poll, conducted between Sept. 18 and Oct. 6, shows Boxer leading Fiorina by 49 percent to 35, while the incumbent has a 50-33 percent lead over DeVore.[22]
To replace Boxer, the best man for the job isn't a woman. Fiorina is suspect being from the Bay Area with its liberal mindset.[12] Fiorina oversaw thousands of a American high tech jobs outsourced to foreign countries while she was at HP.[31] Take from that what you will. Carly create jobs? That's a laugh. The only jobs she ever created were in Singapore and Malaysia as she moved American jobs from here to there. Her credentials? Ran Lucent Technologies into the ground and almost ruined HP before they paid her $21 million to 'just leave'! She is a joke.[21] If you are looking for morals, steer clear of Carly. She thinks American jobs should rightfully go overseas. Anyone who does not understand the NEED to rebuild our own manufacturing base has their head in the sand. This country has gone downhill because the backbone of it, the middle class, has had their jobs shipped over seas to 3rd world countries that have no health, safety or other regulations that protect the worker, environment and country.[20] What is a high moral? Do you mean a high morale or high morals? If you are looking for morals, steer clear of Carly. She thinks American jobs should rightfully go overseas.[20]
Oh, also the "Americans have no right to jobs, outsourcing is great" Fiorina.[20] Don't forget that Fiorina had the audacity to say that people shouldn't expect Corporations to provide them with jobs.[20]
'''Throughout my career I've brought people together, and I've solved problems,''' Fiorina said in a statement. Yea, She certainly will bring people together to vote against her. She needs to find a different sandbox to play in with her millions she rip off from HP with her failed leadership.[28] Carly Fiorina will get the votes of the same people who voted for George W. Bush, despite the fact that he had performed poorly at everything he had ever tried.[31] Carly Fiorina is considered to be a moderate Republican with little history on social issues.[36] Read more about Carly Fiorina's troubled tenure as CEO of Hewlett Packard.[6] Carly Fiorina is unqualified for higher elected office, and the proof is there when one googles her name. She's a Stanford Globalist stuck on women's issues who got fired from Packard.[20] Photo: Carly Fiorina, center, takes a tour with Earth Friendly Products Vice President Kelly Vlahakis-Hanks at a town hall meeting at Earth Friendly Products in Garden Grove.[8] It's exciting for me having lived with my family in the Bakersfield area to consider the candidacy of a bright, tough, compassionate leader, Carly Fiorina.[12]
I haven't decided about Fiorina yet, but anybody with intelligence would be better than Boxer here. Sweet! Babes will be able to raise more money from her network because Carly will have to self fund.[24] Fiorina portrayed Congress as a place of talk and no action, of fiscal waster, of '''rabid partisanship,''' and of backroom deals. She portrayed Boxer as part of the problem, and as someone more interested in writing novels than in passing legislation. "I can take a punch and I can throw a punch," Fiorina said after noting that she expected a tough campaign from Boxer.[12] Anybody I'd take Tom Cruise over Boxer. I worked for HP and left before she went to work destroying the place with the Compaq acquisition and her other poor decisions. She was universally disliked and the joke of Silicon Valley. She was fired by a Board of Directors that rarely likes to get its hands dirty. It was the first high profile termination in the history of HP. Then she was fired from the McCain campaign. This is hilarious, but also disgusting as she will undoubtedly spend huge amounts of money she never really earned. Much of her wealth was a golden parachute to get her out of the place.[31] Please let me know what you readers know about her. I think she is an internationalist. open borders on trade etc. No protectionism with her. Hp stck lost about half of its value while she was head of the firm. She is a leader not a follower. I think she would be better than Boxer but then I think there are better politicians in California than she. Money will not be a problem for her it seems that when HP dumped her for Ms Dunn (Spy on employees Dunn) she got 20 million to walk away.[11] How can the fiscally incompetent state of California continue to elect Democrats? Any Republican would be better than who they have now. This is a joke right? She actually believes she is what California needs? She was a failure at HP. She pocketed the $$$and ran. She doesn't vote and blames an unconnected feeling? What an ego she must have. She's the next Hindenburg in CA.[8] How much longer can the fiscally incompetent state of California continue to elect Democrats? Any Republican would be better. I'm sure that many of the tax-paying achievers of your state (those that haven't left yet) would vote for someone like David Duke if he could just stem the tide of taxational-theft taking place there.[8]
Jim Demint is the type of Republican that represents the extreme view of the conservative movement. If he is going to complain that Democrats are to liberal or to far left of the political spectrum, he should look at himself and not be to far to the political right of the spectrum. To govern in this nation, you need to represent all views within your district and state. Therefore, you need to govern from the political center where you can get things done, compromise, and bring a better tomorrow for all Americans. Having this closed minded viewpoint that the Republican Party should only be conservative that fits his profile is ridiculous and sad because you're not listening and being inclusive to others viewpoints. This is why the Republican Party will be continue to shrink while the tent of the Democratic Party will grow and solicite all viewpoints and make things work. [22] Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) endorsed conservative California State Assemblyman Chuck DeVore (R) Tuesday, once again going against the wishes of his party.[22] This wasn't much of a surprise at all, but it does guarantee a very interesting race in California. If she wins the nomination, that is. Assemblyman Chuck DeVore is already in the primary race and although he has never been elected to anything above his current position, he already possesses a significant following in the conservative base.[9]
A release touting the conference call, which is being held to discuss the state of play in the 2010 Senate races, promises that "Sen. DeMint will announce at least one major SCF endorsement at the end of the call." The DeVore campaign is leaving the strong impression that it could be him. DeMint has waded into at least one other contested GOP Senate primary this year by backing former Florida state Speaker Marco Rubio in his contest with Gov. Charlie Crist, the establishment favorite.[23] The DeVore campaign is touting an endorsement from outspoken conservative Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C. and his Senate Conservative Fund political action committee, announced Tuesday night.[35] The DeVore campaign is hyping a conference call slated for Tuesday night hosted by the Senate Conservative Fund political action committee and featuring the PAC's chairman, Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., and Erick Erickson, editor of the influential conservative blog RedState.com.[23]
Chuck DeVore should be the Republican candidate. He's been busting his ass on the campaign trail for quite some time. Oh, and he's actually voted more than a handful of times. [20] Here's the tally thus far on Fiorina the candidate: Business celebrity with an equivocal record, cancer survivor with a secure employer-sponsored health plan, "problem-solving" candidate spouting ancient Republican nostrums.[25] This is just another self-absorbed, business elitist who, once they have reached a certain height of seniority in the business world, move onto the next level of nobility/titleship ~ politics! It happens all the time. Look at the former heads of business who then move into the next level of royalty (in their own minds) ~ former heads of Goldman Sachs - Henry Paulson went on to be Chief of the Treasury, John Corzine went on to become Gov. of New Jersey (was just defeated, AMEN!); Roland Arnall - founder of Ameriquest Mortgage - bought an ambassadorship to the Netherlands.the list goes on and on!!! And let's not forget that Fiorina left HP in disgrace.although not in her mind.[12] Fiorina had a rather rocky tenure at HP. The company's $19 billion acquisition of Compaq 2001 resulted in a proxy battle with HP heir Walter Hewlett.[34] What's Fiorina's platform going to be? "I drove HP into the ground, got dumped by the company for a man who had to clean up my mess, so now you should elect me senator."[31] Should make for a VERY interesting race, and a media frenzy. Fiorina pretty much trashed an epic company (HP) during her leadership tenure. They had to oust her to salvage a deadly tailspin.[24]
The whole department was outsourced, with no performance measure to the outsourcing company. They promptly let go all the consultants who knew what was going on, and starting replacing each PAIR of consultants with single college graduates making 1/3 of the total salary of the people they replaced. Yeah, she MIGHT be better then Barbara Boxer, but it is a close race for worst use of skin in history.[17] The GOP candidate would compete against incumbent Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer, who is seeking a fourth term.[28]
You know, there is a Latino, Conservative Republican candidate running. His name is Al Ramirez and he is in Santa Monica. Last we he had a kick-off fundraiser at the NRSC Headquarters (which Carly keeps claiming that is who asked her to run). You should check him out and see what he has to say. [20] The only candidates who will be supported by the de facto leadership of the Republican party, Limbaugh, Beck, and FOX, won'''t stand for it. Her conservative ideology is not pure. They will only stand behind flat-earth candidates like Palin.[28] Obama is not a centrist. How can anyone think so looking at his policies? He talks about playing nice and being willing to compromise, then doesn't want to listen to anything Republicans have to say, and lies over and over again about they don't have any ideas. He just doesn't like their ideas because they don't involve government take overs and the loss of liberty for citizens. I'm glad DeMint stands firm on his principles. I'm from South Carolina, and the differences between him and Senator Graham are astronomical. People in SC hate Lindsey Graham because he's not a real conservative. He doesn't stand on values.[22] '''DeMint has been one of the U.S. senators who has stepped forward to carry the conservative banner.''' Others say DeMint is wrong to insist that candidates across the country fit his ideological mold. Referring to DeMint'''s claim that he would like to see a conference of 30 pure conservatives, one GOP official shuddered: '''If we were to adhere to his candidate selection, he would get his wish.'''[22]
The base is where the energy is and that energy is only going to be directed a true conservative. NO ONE will be excited about a Fiorina campaign and therefore she will have few boots on the ground fighting for her. That's another problem regarding "moderates", no enthusiasm for the candidate.[10]
A sub-sample of Republican primary voters showed Fiorina and DeVore statistically tied.[22] A Field Poll last month showed Fiorina and DeVore in a statistical dead heat among Republican voters.[20]
A Field Poll last month showed Fiorina running neck and neck for the GOP nomination with Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, R-Irvine.[12] Unlike Fiorina, who has recently emerged from a battle with breast cancer, DeVore has been actively campaigning throughout the year. Fiorina has personal wealth she can now use to her advantage.[20] Fiorina may have better name recognition than DeVore. As thousands of her ex-employees live in that state and many have less than fond remembrances, name recognition isn't always a positive.[17] Fiorina couldn't run a top 50 company. She can't represent a top 50 state.[20] A year after joining Hewlett-Packard, Fiorina became the company's chairman of the board but that same board forced Fiorina to resign from the company in 2005.[20] Ms. Fiorina is the former chairman of Hewlett-Packard, who was ousted several years ago. She says economic recovery and fiscal accountability would be her top priorities if elected. 'I will not settle for a jobless recovery and we must start the important work of getting our financial house back in order,' she says.[33]
"For many years I felt disconnected from the decisions made in Washington and, to be honest, really didn't think my vote mattered because I didn't have a direct line of sight from my vote to a result. I realize that thinking was wrong," Fiorina wrote in her opinion piece.[5]
We were going to vote on an amendment to the party bylaws closing the primaries, but the sponsor of that amendment backed out at the last minute. Shortly before he posted on his website a puff interview of Fiorina.[10] Likewise in California, Fiorina is considered the desired nominee by party insiders in California and Washington, D.C.[23] California will become more, not less liberal in the coming years if the demographic predictions of a larger Latino electorate prove accurate. The Republican Party has some serious revamping in store if they can hope to appeal to the real "new majority."[20] The California primary could become a reprise of New York's 23rd Congressional District race, where a bitter split between GOP conservatives and moderates opened the way for a Democratic victory Tuesday.[4] Another excellent analysis. This should be an interesting race to watch, both the Republican primary and the election (assuming Fiorina wins the primary). Both parties are likely to put tons of money into the race, and the dynamics should be fascinating.[9] Fiorina echoed standard Republican complaints that the government taxes, spends and regulates too much. "Let's put every government budget and every government bill on the Internet for every citizen to see," she wrote. "Tax, spend and borrow is not a governing philosophy; it's a cycle of dependency and it is one that must be broken," Fiorina wrote.[5] Fiorina also boldy writes, "Let's put every government budget and every government bill on the Internet for every citizen to see." Great idea, Carly! If this were 1996.[40]
Like them both but they arent' strong enough. Much better than Boxer but a far cry from what we need in this state. [20] The only jobs Fiofina will create is for the outsource companies in India, just like she did while running HP. What we do not need is another woman from the Bay area misrepresenting us in Washington D.C. It is time to turn our heads away from the leaders in both parties.[12] Never made one fiscally sound decision. Spent 100% of her time marketing(mostly herself). 0% of her time running the company. Ask her about corporate jets. She bought THREE Gulfstream jets (@ $50M EACH) because the 10 yr old jets were 'old technology'. Employees literally cheered and danced in the aisles, the day her resignation was announced. Oh and she did invent the word: Rightshoring. The definition is send high-tech software, technical and engineering jobs to countries that do not have the economic or educational systems to support them.[8]
The GOP cannot be serious if they support her. Yes she has name recognition, but not in a good way. Anyone familiar with HP and the fact that it's value tanked to less than half what it was worth before she came on as CEO knows the deal. Let's not mention how many jobs the state lost to foreign countries through HP's "downsizing" after the Compaq merger--sending jobs overseas-- and the epic battle between her and the Hewlett family (who knew what the Compaq merger would do the the company).[8] This is the woman that was forced out as CEO of HP back in 2005 after her merger of HP with Compaq turned into a complete failure. She was alleged to have orchestrated HP deals with Iran. She was alleged to have Spyed on her employees. She laid off over 18,000 HP jobs during her tenure.[20]
She's not at all a cold-hearted billionaire. You shouldn't mis-characterize her that way. We need more truth in political discourse and less inaccurate statements like this. To set the record straight, she's merely a multi-millionaire. After she destroyed Hewlett-Packard she is capable of doing anything. She should stay home and take care of her health and leave politics to honest people!!! I despise the woman after seeing what she did to HP employees. [8] Fiorina was a disappointment at HP. I'd like to hear her explanation of what happened before writing her off.[20] Try keeping your eye on the ball, not the shiny objects. In my experience women who wear their hair in that fashion are a bunch of left wing nuts and hard core feminists. As a voter I have a right to know why Fiorina styles her hair like that. What statement is she making?? If these people run for office they have to come clean.[12] Seriously, anybody who thinks that the government should be run like a business has never worked for a large corporation.[12] Hewlett Packard = fired = Iran shenanigans = voting only five or so times in the last 18 or 19 elections = supports net neutrality = personally is pro-life = carpetbagger. Hmmmm I think the idea for her to run was dreamed up by McCain when they were together on his campaign.[10] An unsuccessful business executive who oversaw the collapse of value at her company under her management, supported McCain but eventually ran afoul of the campaign, now wants to enter politics? Let me guess, another Republican corporate shill!!! Throw her out before she gets in.[28] Fyi, the alternate choice to a Republican is a union-bought 70 year old dim-wit. Take a look at his campaign funding @ the Secretary of States website.[20] Regardless, Boxer's fortunes will be ultimately based on the state of the economy next year and whether or not Obama's health care bill gets passed (in a popular form).[9] Let's face it, the conservatives are a losing cause in th state for senator or governor. She is less of an evil than Boxer.[20] Devore I would prefer, but he does not have the name recognition in this state to oust Boxer. His name recognition in Orange County is limited.[20]
I've been worrying with news Newsom dropped Gov bid you may see a lot Dem switch registration to try to cause havoc in republican primaries seeing right now it looks like Brown is likely Gov nominee and Boxer has no opponents.[10] Updated at 7:20 p.m. ET: A statement from Boxer's office: "Whoever wins the Republican primary will be a tough competitor.[27]
Fiorina, speaking to an invited audience in Orange County, a traditional GOP stronghold, described herself Wednesday as a Republican devoted to low taxes and tightfisted budgets. She called herself "a political newcomer who actually knows how to get something done."[4] Fiorina's business record may be as much of a political liability as an asset.[3]
When Carly was CEO, HP was known for having the best jets in the computer business. [8] Having worked at HP during Carly's entire time there, I have nothing positive to say about her. I can relate this: During the last couple years she was there, she had to have four bodyguards to protect her from the engineers during her site visits.[21] " her HP severance alone exceeded $21 million after six rocky years as chief executive." She is a perfect example of a person who was hugely rewarded for mediocre work at best.[8] The ex-Fortune 500 CEO, who left Hewlett-Packard in 2005 with a severance package estimated to be worth between $21.5 million and $40 million, is expected to enjoy a significant financial advantage over DeVore, who entered October with just $144,000 in the bank.[36]
Hows that for fiscal responsibility. If she gets in, California and the rest of the country will be in big trouble as she will outsource the government, CIA, military and provide tax advantages to corporations to ship jobs overseas at an ever faster pace. [38] We need to simplify the tax code." She is a believer of free trade, but feels other countries have to give the access to their markets that they seek in the U.S. and while some countries need to live up to all of their obligations in NAFTA. She pointed out the need to protect intellectual property in the U.S. and abroad, as well as the need for reforming regulatory mandates that date to the Depression, believing that reform would keep jobs here in California instead losing then to other countries.[18] You have got to be kidding. She bombed at every job she's ever had. Now she is "qualified" to be a U.S. Senator? She is the biggest fraud in American public life.[8] You people would trust a person that said this "Americans no longer have a God given right to a job" as she layed off all of those people at HP and shipped their jobs to India and China? She is a traitor in the purest form.[12]
Her views on keeping businesses in America instead of losing jobs to other countries include the need to encourage innovation and new thinking while revamping the tax structure. "Our tax burden is too high," she said. "It is too high on individuals, it is too high on businesses, and government has got to stop increasing taxes on capital and investments.[18]
Boxer, Feinstein Pelosi dont have crap to do with CALIFORNIA tax rates, they are part of the federal government.[12] I'd still vote for anyone in any party before Boxer. We simply need to get rid of her, now! She's horrible.[20] I'll have to study up more on the candidates. Boxer may very well be vulnerable this time around if she and other Dems shove the massive health care takeover bill through.[20]
The Fiorina-DeVore matchup has all the makings of another Republican battle between the conservative wing of the party and national leaders seeking the most electable candidate.[36] Former eBay Chief Executive Meg Whitman and Steve Poizner, an entrepreneur now serving as California's insurance commissioner, are seeking the Republican nomination for governor.[14] If elected, Carly promises to merge California with Oregon and Washington to attain new economies of scale.[39]
DeMint already endorsed Marco Rubio, a conservative former state House member who is taking on the more centrist Gov. Charlie Crist for the Florida Senate. [35]
SOURCES
1. Carly Fiorina goes to Washington? (Dealscape - Technology)
2. FT.com | John Gapper's Business Blog | Carly Fiorina tries to cultivate her inner politician
3. Carly Fiorina enters GOP Senate primary with opening shots against Barbara Boxer -- latimes.com
4. The Associated Press: Former HP CEO Fiorina targets Boxer's Senate seat
5. The Associated Press: Former HP CEO Fiorina announces bid for US Senate
6. Carly Fiorina to take on Barbara Boxer for US Senate seat | csmonitor.com
7. City Brights: Zennie Abraham : Carly Fiorina called "Failed CEO" by California Dems
8. Carly Fiorina announces her GOP candidacy for U.S. Senate | L.A. NOW | Los Angeles Times
9. Carly Fiorina will challenge Barbara Boxer in. | Gather
10. DeMint endorses DeVore, Fiorina panics - Neil_Stevens's blog - RedState
11. Fiorina is watching Boxer on cap-and-trade - The Back Story - Washington Times
12. Fiorina joins U.S. Senate race, promises jobs - Total Buzz - OCRegister.com
13. Former HP Chief Fiorina running for Senate | Politics | Reuters
14. Former HP chief Fiorina running for Senate | Politics | Reuters
15. CA: Garamendi wins, Fiorina getting in - First Read - msnbc.com
16. RealClearPolitics - Politics Nation - Fiorina Enters California Senate Race
17. Carly Fiorina seeks to run against Barbara Boxer (Wizbang)
18. Carly Fiorina addresses Coronado crowd on global economics
19. Cara Fiorina to run for the US Senate » Los Angeles Public Relations Firms
20. Fiorina expected in O.C. to announce Senate bid - Total Buzz - OCRegister.com
21. Carly Fiorina 2.0: The U.S. Senate Edition | Epicenter | Wired.com
22. Senator DeMint bucks Republican party, backs conservative in California race - TheHill.com
23. CQ Politics | Eye on 2010 - Fiorina Expected to Launch Bid This Week
24. WORLDmag.com | Community | Blog Archive | Fiorina to challenge Boxer
25. Carly Fiorina's Senate campaign launch rehearses a threadbare script -- latimes.com
26. Fiorina officially announces Senate candidacy - The Hill's Blog Briefing Room
27. Fiorina jumps into the California Senate race - On Politics - USATODAY.com
28. Carly Fiorina to announce run for U.S. Senate | L.A. NOW | Los Angeles Times
29. FT.com / Technology - Fiorina confirms bid for Senate seat
30. Ex HP boss Fiorina to run for Senate seat - City AM
31. Fiorina Will Challenge Boxer in Senate Race - The Caucus Blog - NYTimes.com
32. Debate: An online Marshal Dillon | dillon, marshal, online : gaston onSet Site - WAP
33. Central Valley Business Times
34. Former HP CEO Fiorina Running for U.S. Senate in Calif. - Reviews by PC Magazine
35. CQ Politics | Eye on 2010 - California Senate: Fiorina Says She's Running
36. Fiorina jumps into high-profile California Senate race - CNN.com
37. AFP: Former Hewlett-Packard chief to mount US Senate bid
38. Carlyfornia Dreaming: Ex-HP Chief Fiorina Launches Senate Bid - Tech Trader Daily - Barrons.com
39. A reinvented Carly Fiorina declares her candidacy for U.S. Senate | VentureBeat
40. Carly Fiorina Announces Senate Candidacy, Immediately Highlights Political Ignorance - carly fiorina - Gawker
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