Carly Fiorina Rocks The View

Carly Fiorina Rocks The View

This morning, presidential hopeful Carly Fiorina went were many Republicans fear to go, and even fewer venture in hopes of making strides with new demographics—the set of The View.

I think she may have gained ground. Judging from my own experiences and conversations, I’m comfortable with saying that even conservative women like the idea of a woman running for president. It has nothing to do with post-modern feminism, or promoting candidates based on gender, or secret man-hate—it’s about not feeling the need to act the contrarian over actual progress.

If she did make strides during this interview, she earned them. Out of the gate, the hosts wanted to know about her lack of political experience, and she gave a great answer:

“I understand how the economy works, I understand how the world works, I understand how bureaucracies work, which is what our government’s become, I understand technology, which is kind of important now, and I understand leadership. I think this election’s gonna be about leadership.”

Watch the rest (h/t Tom Szold, National Political Director of Carly for America:

I’m guilty of having already taken my first mini-break from Republican primary politics, so I haven’t taken a very close look at Fiorina or what her campaign has been pumping out. That being said, I think she did a fantastic job. This interview made me want to learn more about her.

At around the 3:40 mark, the lovely ladies steered the conversation toward the problem of Fox and CNN using polling data to decide which candidates will be allowed to participate in the initial debates. It didn’t feel like a malicious question, but it did put her in a vulnerable position. This would have been a perfect opportunity for Fiorina to knock Fox, or white male presidential candidates, or the polling system in general, but she didn’t do it. Instead, she dropped a “started from the bottom now I’m here” nugget, and looked confident when she said, “I’m kind of used to being underestimated, so I’m sort of assuming I might make it to those first [debates].”

She’s here to work, ladies—just like you.

Of course, they also covered Hillary Clinton’s candidacy (Fiorina believes she’ll be the nominee) and feminism, which could have turned into a complete fiasco—but it didn’t. She ended up making a great point about the politicization of feminism, and gender, and recovered the conversation by stating that “I believe that a feminist is any woman who lives the life she chooses.”

…and then they moved on to abortion and they all started to argue with her, because this is The View and if we don’t argue about abortion, we spontaneously combust.

Interviews like this are important. Whether you enjoy watching The View or not, it’s important to recognize (as I’ve said before, multiple times) that not every piece of messaging and promotion created by a campaign was created for you. If the idea of listening to Whoopi Goldberg talk about politics makes you want to light your hair on fire, this interview was not for you. It was for viewers who may be liberal, but who will also sit up and take notice when this unicorn of a human being—successful Republican businesswoman and presidential candidate—is on the screen.

She made us look good, and hopefully captured the attention of voters she wouldn’t normally have the chance to talk to—which is, of course, the point of all of this.

Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.