This moment was something special to me and, I think, to millions of American mothers especially: Carly’s confession that she and her husband buried a child to drug addiction. I, too, have watched a close friend bury a child lost to drug addiction. And, as Fiorina noted, so have millions of other parents.
This was moving in itself, but it was also a striking example of something that Carly has that Hillary just doesn’t: the capacity to project strength without appearing at all ungendered or manly. To be a woman, with a woman’s feelings, and yet project both strength and authority, as mothers so often have to do.
She also pointed out that heroin addiction, a truly deadly epidemic, is sweeping New Hampshire and many other communities. Heroin deaths outnumber traffic fatalities in New Hampshire, according to the Union-Leader. Prescription oxycontin has proved a gateway drug for Mexican drug dealers pushing the cheaper heroin substitutes, as Rod Dreher has pointed out.
She was eloquent and brave, moving and strong:
FIORINA: I very much hope I am the only person on this stage who can say this, but I know there are millions of Americans out there who will say the same thing.
My husband Frank and I buried a child to drug addiction. So, we must invest more in the treatment of drugs.
I agree with Senator Paul. I agree with states’ rights. But we are misleading young people when we tell them that marijuana is just like having a beer. It’s not.
Maggie Gallagher is a senior fellow at American Principles in Action.
