Even though she’s dropped out of the race, Carly Fiorina continues to affect American politics for the better. By being a competent, principled, successful conservative woman, she puts the lie to many things Hillary Clinton would have us believe.
Simply by running for President, Fiorina has helped break liberal feminism’s hold on the women’s issues debate. Finally, Fiorina shows us that it is possible to be both a woman and a Conservative Republican. In fact, that might just be the best way to do it!
1. Carly Fiorina is a great contrast to Hillary.While this may be the least important thing about Fiorina over all, it will be the most important thing she brings to the table right now.
Like her or not, Clinton at least seemed–at one time–like an idealistic liberal who just didn’t connect with reality (and was more than a little selfish in the bargain). But with her slippery stand on Wall Street and her constant stream of “no comment” re: issues she once voted on, it’s become apparent that Clinton is in it to win. So much so, that she will even sell out the truth!
Not so for Fiorina.
Carly Fiorina is very clear where she stands on the issues–even when those issues are more nuanced than the Clinton camp makes them out to be.
She is against abortion–except in cases of rape, incest, or danger to the mother. She is against legislating how employers hire and pay their employees–yet she has taken real action to raise women’s wages at HP and AT&T.
In addition, Fiorina knows what life is like in the real world and knows when to make tough calls. She herself knows it can be tough to cut jobs, but also knows when it’s necessary.
Her decision to cut jobs at HP helped that company soar at a time when most tech companies were crashing. And those are the kind of decisions that ultimately help more than they hurt, because of what they give back to the economy in the long run.
Clinton’s life has constantly been lived at someone else’s expense, whether as a civil service worker, a lawyer, or a politician. It’s no surprise that she wants to help voters all over America do just the same.
Carly Fiorina is a principled conservative, in stout contrast to Hillary’s unprincipled opportunism. She also represents something that is unfortunately hard to find in any party these days: a true principled conservatism.
She is pro-business, but it’s very hard to level against her the charge that she is owned by Wall Street. She has even taken “crony capitalists” to task–unlike Hillary, who caters to Wall Street with one hand while pretending to cater to the “common people” on the other.
If there’s one thing that Republicans in 2016 can agree on, it’s that we DON’T need another Clinton in office. Carly Fiorina helps highlight Hillary’s opportunism by showing us what a principled business woman–just the opposite of an unprincipled social “servant”–looks like.
2. Fiorina has subverted the left’s hold on women’s issues.In the past, things were pretty black and white on women’s issues. Either you believed they suffered from discrimination and that they needed special legislation (Affirmative Action, etc.) to set things straight, or else you didn’t think it was near the problem that some women claimed it to be. Fiorina is different–and more realistic.
Sure, you’ll never hear her toss around the phrase “rape culture” and talk about how oppressed she is. But the great thing about her is that she can acknowledge that, yes women do still suffer from business discrimination in this country–yet Fiorina doesn’t look to government for the answer.
A true champion of liberty, she doesn’t want laws that force anyone to do anything (except maybe stay in the right lanes on the highway!).
Now the left has no legitimate claim on being the only side looking out for women’s rights. Women can acknowledge discrimination without going overboard.
And finally, Fiorina has pointed out that women everywhere can stand up for themselves and speak intelligently on the issue, instead of wagging their fingers and demanding legislation that strong-arms employers.
3. Fiorina proves that empowered, liberated women can be conservatives. Of course many intelligent readers already know this. But given the kind of liberal bias in both news and entertainment media, it’s understandable that not every knows this.
Both women and men on the left have made a case for 40 years, saying that you can’t be both conservative and pro-woman. This line of thought has reached extreme proportions lately, with the media constantly citing the GOP’s supposed “War on Women.”
Carly Fiorina proves that you can be both conservative and a woman. You can be a fully liberated woman, join the Republican Party, and still have integrity.
You can choose Adam Smith over Karl Marx and still be a an empowered, liberated woman. And you can admit that there are problems with the way women are treated, without calling for the downfall of Western society.
Even though Carly Fiorina is no longer running for President, she still has an effect on the 2016 Presidential Election. For one thing, she helps through Hillary Clinton’s personality and principles (or lack of them) in stark relief. For another, she helps break the hold that the liberal media have when it comes to women’s issues.
Finally, Carly Fiorina proves to anyone that didn’t already know, that you can be a Conservative Republican AND and empowered, liberated woman. That kind of influence will persist much longer than 2016. And America will be a better place for it.
