Fiorina presents a liberal’s dilemma
Democrats are deeply into identity politics, and it’s a well-known fact that a great deal of Hillary Clinton’s appeal—what’s left of it, that is—among women is the fact that she is a woman. So Democrats who are predisposed to care about such things, and to care deeply, are perplexed by Carly Fiorina:
As a scandal-plagued Hillary Clinton continues to flail, feminists have seen there’s a woman out there who’s cleaning her clock as a candidate, fulfilling their dreams of a powerful woman, except that she isn’t one of their own. She’s pro-life, pro-markets and very pro-power. And she’s causing a crisis among female Democrats, who long to embrace her, but can’t. “Carly Fiorina is the candidate I wanted Hillary Clinton to be,” said one wistful feminist. Another asked, “Can you love a campaign, but hate a candidate’s policies?” And a third noted, “As a lot of feminists cheered her on during that [debate] performance, we were loathing her actual policies. There’s an excitement and a horror that those two ”¦ co-exist.” But they do co-exist, and it’s not getting better. Which is giving the sisterhood fits.
The more doctrinaire feminists of the left are almost certainly not the least bit conflicted, however. To them, Carly is the feminist equivalent of the anti-Christ. Sarah Palin was far easier for them to discredit, because although she was a woman of marked accomplishments, her class and her education, her hobbies and her speech patterns, marked her as “other” and made it easier for them to demonize and particularly to mock her.
Not so with Fiorina, who is aware of her effect on less doctrinaire liberal (as opposed to leftist) feminists:
Fiorina responded after Kelly read part of a New York Times story from last week in which one woman remarked of the former Hewlett-Packard executive that, “It’s so weird ”” she looks like one of us, but she’s not.”…
“Actually, note to Democrat Party: We’re half the nation. And so our views differ, just like men’s views differ,” Fiorina said. “And yes, I think I am distinctly horrifying to liberals that I am a conservative woman who right now, head-to-head, beats Hillary Clinton soundly.”
“Horrifying” is a good word for it. They can attack her HP record, but then they’d be trashing a woman who became a head executive in a major company, someone they would ordinarily champion. They can’t join with Donald Trump in ridiculing her face. The only thing they can do is call her a traitor to her sex by being a conservative, but that’s weak tea compared to their usual attack. And secretly, they seem to admire her steely resolve and her obvious intelligence.
This is why I love her. I have been watching her on CSPAN for months and I think she would be formidable. She can really answer every question put to her without uhs… and … ummmms … and if she does not know the specifics, she says so and I think she actually goes and finds them for the next question!
When I first saw Carly in Norwalk, Iowa in July, I thought she could win.
The leading GOP candidate now (Trump) has limited appeal to moderate to liberal women.
In a recent NH and IA poll, Carly beats Hillary.
In a big field, however, Trump is firm (and probably capped) at 25%.
Liberalism is held together by social, not intellectual pressure. The Mean Girls will do what they can to keep those uppity sophomores in line and hate Carly, but she may fracture the current hierarchy. It will reconsistute, of course, because there will always be an enormous number of people who choose their politics on the basis of signalling and social status. But she may peel off a large number for good, especially among the younger women.
Men don’t dislike her either. We’d like to have our own Maggie Thatcher here.
I think you nailed it on the difference between Palin (very intelligent, accomplished, and great retail politician) and Fiorina, that of being “not one of us”.
The major problem when she ran with McCain, of course, was that his own staff had the same reaction to her as the Democrats.
‘Conservative’ womyn I my circles wouldn’t give Palin lip service …. so, there is more to it than it seems. She and family were truly abused. Womyn were silent.
I thought and still think she’s great.
Feminists!
What’s there to say?
My housekeepers are a black mother-daughter team, with the Mom in her 70s. They have done my home for 15 years now. I have broken my own rule against talking politics with people whom I pay, so daughter and I do chat about politics, sometimes in the mother’s hearing. We usually differ, but affectionately.
Today, the daughter said something her mother thought was silly, so mom called her a Democrat!
Hope springs eternal!
Fiorina is a great communicator. Period! She can take the hits and counter punch. As a woman who worked her way from secretary to CEO she has had to contend with many enemies/detractors. It has made her strong and fearless. In her I see a happy warrior.
I’m still observing all the candidates closely, but I have to admit that Carly is in the top three as far as I am concerned.
She is a RINO and an insider. She should have run as a Democrat
Ted Cruz is the only conservative in the race.
Ted Cruz isn’t as emotionally engaging as Carly. That’s why for me, she’s a hair’s breadth ahead of him on my list at #1.
love her, she’s undaunted by all the krap they throw at her !!!
Cruz
http://therightscoop.com/briliant-watch-ted-cruz-destroy-sierra-club-president-on-climate-change/
Thank you, Jake! I posted this comment:
Cruz is completely correct – the “97%” stat is based on a tiny sample of voluntary responses – ie, 75 out of 77 who responded! And therefore it is not statistically significant.
Among a larger group of American Meteorological Society (ie, meteorologists – there are only somewhat more than 100 PhD degreed climatologists in the US), only 52% agree with the “consensus.”
When, in Canada, a larger Earth Scientists” sample is scientifically sampled, the results further shrink to about one-third agreeing with the IPCC “consensus.”
Thus, most other relevant scientists find the notion of “consensu” about global warming quite fractured.
I don’t think Fiorina presents the liberals with a dilemma so much as an opportunity. The hatred of White college educated women for conservative women is deep and visceral. They will walk barefoot over hot coals and broken glass to vote against a conservative woman. This is the lesson of the Sarah Palin debacle. (One of them, anyway) As a conservative woman, Firoina is flatly unelectable, but the whole Republican party is a giant steaming pile of fail anyway, and they’re going to lose. So if you want an intelligent, articulate, combative, and appealing GOP nominee that you can lose in a landslide with, then she’s a good choice. I’m for her.
It’s sort of like in Islam where infidel and uncovered women are “fresh meat” to cats.
Carly’s resume actually prevents the Left from mocking her with any degree of success IMO.
She has educational credentials similar to many on the Left & she is a the daughter of a prominent circuit judge. Plus she is just so facile with words & articulating her thoughts that it is stunning & something to be reckoned with.
Clearly Lefty Chris Matthews immediately ran to *check out her bio* when interviewing her on air after the !st debate & sought to excoriate her for describing Hillary as a “liar”. Whiney Matthews,
“is that helpful to refer to your opponent as a liar”? She didn t back down but doubled down,
telling him off ! “She’s a liar”! She has (pun intended)* broad appeal *, independents, that voting block that was so beguiled by Obama the first *black* will
find Fiorina a formidable *first woman*.
Re Ted Cruz, his candidacy is appealing, but I feel he is unelectable. There is too much to *mock* about him. A standard white guy, the Left will say. He has the millstone of Christian Fundamentalism (something the Left abhors) around his neck. ( I don t know if it is his personal faith but I know his father is a minister & the Left will dredge that up). There are comparisons to the 1950s Wisconsin senator &
commie hunter Mccarthy, & unfair or not the Left will hone in on that ! Sadly too, *he ‘s just not cool*, I can t see independents or many dems crossing lines to vote for him, he would not be an historic First !
The best defense is a good offense. People are too conditioned by the Left to go into victim mode and think about best to defend themselves and their candidates. That doesn’t mean much on the battlefield. It’s not like you can control the defense of these various different organizations, but you can control the fury of your own attack network against the Left.