Friday, March 29, 2024

How Well Do You Know Carly?

Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina (photo credit: Gage Skidmore)
Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina (photo credit: Gage Skidmore)

While Carly Fiorina was the big winner of the last GOP debate by nearly every metric, some members of the media criticized her on-stage demeanor. Despite the critiques — however trivial they may be — her performance has already translated into a substantial bump in polling numbers. Of course, the side effect of her improved performance has been the resurgence of opposition research against her and stories that denigrate her six year stint at the helm of Hewlett-Packard (HP).

Enter Citizen Carly, a documentary produced by the CARLY for America PAC. The documentary has already premiered in Virginia, Iowa, and New Hampshire, and will premiere in South Carolina this evening. The roughly hour long look at Fiorina’s life and accomplishments includes interviews from family, friends, and even members of the board of HP from her time as CEO. One of those board members, Tom Perkins, discusses his regret at having joined the vote to oust Fiorina, while also discussing his admiration for Fiorina’s stewardship of HP through a difficult economic time for the technology industry.

In addition to shedding positive light on her leadership of HP, Citizen Carly leaves much of the policy-oriented rhetoric to the debate stage, instead focusing primarily on Carly’s personal story. One particularly memorable scene involves Fiorina discussing the tragic death of one of her step daughters during her 2010 Senate campaign and how her personal relationship with Jesus helped to guide her through the grieving process.

While an hour long political documentary may not interest the average voter, there are enough moments in the film that could still be of use for shorter 5 to 10 minute cuts. I hope to see portions of the full film utilized as the campaign moves forward, but I recommend taking the time to watch the full documentary if you have an hour to spare.

Joshua Pinho is a Digital Communications Associate for American Principles in Action.

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