2016 Presidential Candidate Profile: Carly Fiorina

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Candidate Profile: Carly Fiorina

Current Office: None

Age: 61 (Born September 6, 1954)

Party: Republican

Real Clear Politics Poll Average (as of December 10, 2015): National 2.5% (5^th); Iowa 3.0% (7^th); New Hampshire 5.3% (8^th)¹

Campaign Website: carlyforpresident.com

Carly Fiorina is seeking the Republican nomination for President. She has never held elected office before, although she ran unsuccessfully for a United States Senate seat in California in 2010. She is known for being the former CEO of Hewlett Packard.

Immigration:

Carly Fiorina is critical of both parties for not taking action to solve problems with the immigration system. She supports a pathway to legalization for people here illegally, but does not support a pathway to citizenship. She opposes comprehensive immigration reform, instead favoring an approach where immigration reform measures are passed in a series of bills. She supports the DREAM Act. Fiorina pledges to prioritize border security and defund sanctuary cities. She opposes the President's executive actions on immigration.

Israel:

Carly Fiorina has touted her strong support for Israel on the campaign trail, promising that her first call as President would be to Prime Minister Netanyahu. I have confidence that her support for Israel is both strong and sincere. She has opposed the disastrous Iran deal stated that she would only support an Iran deal if Iran submitted all of its military installations to any time and any place inspections.

Many were not sure what to expect of Carly Fiorina's Presidential campaign, especially given that she did not establish a reputation as a stalwart conservative in her Senate run in 2010. However, Fiorina has taken a strong conservative stand on size-of-government issues during her campaign. She has focused relentlessly on the ever-growing powers of administrative agencies stating that “we've become a nation of rules, not a nation of laws.”² She supports zero-based budgeting for federal agencies.

Conclusion:

Fiorina has shown impressive policy acumen and speaking ability throughout the campaign thus far. She is by far the most qualified candidate of the three candidates (with Donald Trump [see blog] and Ben Carson [see blog] being the other two) who have never held elected office. While I would like to hear more from her about immigration issues, her public issue statements have been solid. I am confident that Fiorina is genuine friend of Israel and that she would be effective on foreign policy issues despite her lack of experience..

Fiorina's poll numbers have mostly collapsed since a small surge after the first couple of debates. While she has little chance of being the nominee, she has been a credit to the proceedings thus far with her strong debate performances and keen critiques of Hillary Clinton. She is worth your consideration in the primary. In the event that the eventual Republican nominee captures the White House, Fiorina would warrant strong consideration for a place in the next administration.

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1. http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/us/2016_republican_presidential_nomination-3823.html (retrieved on December 10, 2015)
2. http://www.ontheissues.org/Carly_Fiorina.htm

Resources and Materials:

http://www.ontheissues.org/Carly_Fiorina.htm