Carly Fiorina
Hillary Clinton's dominance as the 2016 presidential race develops has opened up a role for one or more Republican women: attack dog. And
Carly Fiorina is diving in eagerly. The failed Hewlett-Packard CEO and losing 2010 California Senate nominee is making noises about a presidential run, and so far, her main platform appears to be attacking Clinton.
“Like Hillary Clinton, I too, have traveled hundreds of thousands of miles around the globe, but unlike her, I have actually accomplished something,” she told conservatives in Iowa in January. “Mrs. Clinton: Flying is an activity, not an accomplishment.”
Okay. How do we categorize being in the running for
worst CEO or at least
worst tech CEO of recent years? It's not just an activity, but is it an accomplishment? Believe it or not, though, that's one of Fiorina's stronger attacks on Clinton:
She accused Mrs. Clinton, whose most recent memoir is “Hard Choices,” of copying the title of her own 2006 memoir, “Tough Choices.” An aide to Ms. Fiorina posted an image on Twitter of the two book jackets side by side.
And last month, after Mrs. Clinton urged 5,000 female tech professionals in Silicon Valley to “unlock our full potential,” Ms. Fiorina again accused Mrs. Clinton of stealing: Her leadership political action committee, an aide to Ms. Fiorina noted, is called the Unlocking Potential Project. And next weekend she will kick off an Unlocking Potential conference, with the tagline “From Hometowns to Washington: How Women Across America Can Create Real Conservative Change.”
Yes, apparently from now on, every time Hillary Clinton uses any common phrase that Carly Fiorina has previously used, Fiorina will accuse her of stealing ideas. Seriously, you get the feeling that if Clinton says "God bless America," Fiorina will claim intellectual ownership of the phrase.
But if Fiorina is looking to appear to have any relevance whatsoever, making herself useful to Republicans by letting them point to attacks on Clinton coming from a woman is probably her best shot.