Thursday, November 26, 2015
What happened to Carly Fiorina?
As the Iowa caucuses draw closer, Americans seem to have lost view of one particular GOP candidate. Carly Fiorina, who in September was in second place in the race for the GOP nomination, has dropped back in the polls to around 3-4%, not nearly enough to make her a viable candidate. What has happened? She doesn't seem to have made any obvious mistakes in front of an audience, and yet she falls further back. Republican strategist Susan Del Percio says that she believes a lack of funding has brought on the decrease in attention, but what other forces could be at play here? The GOP still has so many candidates that is it just about time that some of them begin to fall out of focus? What could this mean (if anything) for the other lesser known candidates in both parties? Is it still possible to Fiorina to pull ahead and, if not win the nomination, at least make a dent in the GOP vote?
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I don't think it's just funding that's caused her lack of attention. Her debating skills are great, but I think what really set her apart and gave her attention were her statements on Planned Parenthood and her dispute with Trump, who basically called her ugly. Those along with her good debate performances had people talking about her, but besides that she hasn't really stood out with her opinions and ideas. Trump and Carson say things that work the media (and society) into a frenzy, and thus the media covers them. Fiorina is reserved and not aggressive enough in my opinion. I think funding might also be a problem, but she really is too much of an outsider and just not making an impact. I think it's going to be harder and harder for lesser known candidates to gain any traction as time is running out. I think it's time that the GOP narrows down the candidates because some aren't even serious contenders anymore. I honestly don't think Fiorina has much of a chance anymore. Even Cruz and Rubio are surpassing her while Trump and Carson are the media favorites at the moment. I think as it comes closer to the primaries more and more candidates will drop out as America and the media shifts its focus to the serious competitors because let's be honest, Trump isn't one of them and I'm not even sure Fiorina is either. I think if Fiorina were more aggressive (possibly in the next few months) she could gain more attention, but I don't think it likely that she'll capture the GOP nomination.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Rachel, I don't think that funding is the problem. In my opinion, this is just the natural selection that occurs through the course of an election. Eventually, some candidates are going to lose public interest, as well as lose media interest. This doesn't happen all at once, but once someone starts to fade from the spotlight it can be hard to get back in. For someone like Fiorina, this can be especially true, as she appeared out of nowhere, with very little political background, and established herself based on strong debate performances. Although those sparked media interest as well as the interest of radical voters looking for radical change through a political outsider, that interest was fueled by her airtime, which dwindled as she did little else to help kindle it. As it dwindled, a snowball effect started to take place, and she lost more and more public interest. She's not out of the race yet, at least not technically. But this is something that is seen in each election: outsider candidates tend to sizzle out, and this could signal the beginning of just that. Personally, I think that this is due to the appearance of more moderate voters appearing in the part of the public already interested in the election, whereas early on mostly those with strong political opinions are paying attention, or more specifically the politically informed. As these moderate voters appear, they tend to prefer the status quo to rapid change, and therefore they tend to side with more moderate, more politically established candidates, causing outsiders to start to struggle in the polls. All of this combined, along with her scandal with the Planned Parenthood videos she mentioned in the debate, has caused for Fiorina's struggles in the race. I think that these same woes will soon start applying to other political outsiders, as well as outsiders to the election, as the field of candidates naturally begins to thin out. Although Fiorina hasn't lost the nomination yet, I personally don't seeing her finding a way to stage a come back an receive it.
ReplyDeleteFunding may be part of the issue, but I think the most pertinent problem is that people have just lost interest in her. Fiorina did have very strong public appearances in debates, but on the other hand she does not have a very solid political background, and she does not stand out from the other candidates (Trump, etc.). This may signal that it's about time for lesser popular candidates to begin dropping out of the competition. I don't see Fiorina being able to come back in this nomination unless some sort of miracle occurs. Once candidates drop this low in the polls, its very difficult for them to climb back up, unless something happens that puts her back in the spotlight again.
ReplyDeleteFiorina's biggest dilemma is that she hasn't made a significant effort to put herself in the spotlight outside of the republican debates. Her most successful polling numbers came after debates; it would have made sense for her to campaign aggressively after those debates but she failed to grasp that opportunity. She can still have success, as the momentum of campaigns can change in an instant. I think to do so though she'll need another strong debate and that that debate will need to be followed by aggressive campaigning.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, I think that not just funding had to do with Fiorina's lack of attention. Her statements on Planned Parenthood really made her stood apart, with her great debating skills. She hasn't really stood out with ideas or opinions. Fiorina is not aggressive enough. Funding might als be a part of the problem and Fiorina is not making much of an impact because she is an outsider. I really don't think Fiorina has much of a chance anymore. I think as we get closer to the primaries, more candidates will drop out and that will leave the more serious candidates left. Fiorina isn't one of those serious candidates, and she isn't aggressive enough to gain more attention so she probably won't be able to capture the GOP nomination. She needs a stronger debate and to be more aggressive in getting attention for her campaign.
ReplyDeleteLack of funding may be one reason for Fiorina's drop in the polls, but I think the main problem is that she doesn't set herself apart enough from the other Republican candidates. She received a lot of attention after voiced her opinions on Planned Parenthood, but other than that an the Republican debates, I don't think she's done enough campaigning. However, the lack of funding might be why she isn't campaigning as much as other candidates. At this point, it is unlikely that Fiorina will be able to pull ahead and win. The only way it could happen is if other candidates drop out, and she does a better job of campaigning and getting more positive attention.
ReplyDeleteI think that Fiorina's popularity dropped because Trump and Carson became more popular. Trump was a big name before he ran for election so the media already focuses on him. It certainly helps when he makes outlandish statements that are so extreme that everyone has to talk about it. It's the same thing with Carson except he wasn't well-known before the campaign. Fiorina hasn't had any big news stories since the Planned Parenthood incident, really. Also, her views and policies are not extreme enough to stand out compared to all the other GOP candidates. In order for her to gain back some polling numbers, she needs to find a way to stand out against the other candidates, especially Trump and Carson.
ReplyDeleteDespite your views on Fiorina's particular positions, it's hard to deny the fact that she has had very few outright blunders (aside from the Planned Parenthood incident), and she has largely avoided controversy. She is a poised speaker and a skilled debater and she has a rather presidential air about her. She has many of the qualities which Carson and Trump lack, and yet, obviously, they're doing much better than she is. Funding is part of the issue, but I believe that the main root of her problem is lack of exposure. She got her big jumps after debates when the media buzzed about her. But, unfortunately, Americans' attention spans aren't quite as long as she needs them to be in order to sustain that momentum. As soon as their TVs go off or the media stops talking about her, she's dead in her tracks. Anything is possible in primary elections; this time eight years ago McCain wasn't doing that well, either. She can come back from this, but it would take something both significant and sustainable to accomplish a feat so large.
ReplyDeleteCarly Fiorina was a flash in the pan. She was new, an outsider and another person for Trump to trash talk. Apart from her gender, she didn't have any qualities that separated her from the rest of the candidates. In addition, the whole controversy where she thought she knew better than a bunch of fact-checkers on whether or not a video was real made me lose any confidence I ever had in her. By now she's out and will one day be forgotten as a politician and carry on with her rich big business life.
ReplyDeleteI do not believe that Fiorina has any chance of winning the primary or even making a mark on the election at all. She was exciting and talked about for a few weeks, but that was it. I think that Trump and Carson, the other candidates without any political experience, have each gotten in the spotlight, leaving no room for Fiorina. Although making her Planned Parenthood blunder and seeming a bit aloof, she certainly has not made statements like Trump has. Besides her gender, there isn't anything too exciting about Fiorina and that's why I believe she got lost in the sea of GOP candidates.
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