Free Republic

An enthusiastic crowd of 625 arrived in Davenport, Iowa, Friday morning to see Carly Fiorina. But her campaign has no record of them. Instead, volunteers and staff with the super PAC Carly for America handed out stickers and signed up the attendees to receive more information. This is how Fiorina, who has rocketed to the top tier in national polls since last week's CNN debate, is organizing in Iowa. "I would say most of the organizing work is done on Carly for America," campaign state director Christopher Rants told CNN on Wednesday. On the campaign side, he said, "Our focus...

HER silver tongue honed by decades in corporate marketing, Carly Fiorina has used two debates, and a steely determination on the campaign trail, to climb near the top of the polls for the Republican nomination. But Americans should pause on her biggest professional credential for our highest office: a short, disastrous stint atop one of America’s iconic technology companies, Hewlett-Packard. The clearest measure of her performance — and the report card preferred by Wall Street — is H.P.’s stock price, which dropped by 52 percent during her tenure of almost six years. Yes, Mrs. Fiorina served during the worst fall...

In late 2010, polls showed Carly Fiorina within a point or two of beating California’s Democratic incumbent Sen. Barbara Boxer. The Republican candidate was impressing on the trail and gaining traction with voters, much like she is now as a Republican presidential contender. And then the attack ads began. “Thirty thousand Californians lost their jobs,” the narrator of an ad released in mid-September said of Fiorina’s legacy as CEO of the Silicon Valley tech giant Hewlett Packard. “Fiorina tripled her salary, bought a million dollar yacht, and five corporate jets.” Her poll numbers dipped — and they never quite recovered....

Former Gov. Jeb Bush (R) pledged in South Carolina Thursday evening that he will earn victory in the South’s first presidential primary next year. “I’m going to win South Carolina, take it to the bank,” Bush told reporters, according to The Charleston Post and Courier. His boast came before a speech addressing the East Cooper Republican Women’s group in Mount Pleasant. Bush is making the Palmetto State a key focus of his 2016 Oval Office bid as he struggles for traction in the first voting states. He ranks sixth out of 15 candidates in Iowa with 5.3 percent and fifth...

Some people were not happy after presidential candidate Jeb Bush told a group in South Carolina Thursday night that Republicans can win more African-American voters with a message of positivity than with one that promises “free stuff.” The remarks, reported first by the Washington Post, echoed those by Mitt Romney in 2012 that sparked criticism at the time. Bush’s campaign event Thursday drew a largely white audience, according to the New York Times, and his comments came in response to a question about how he would appeal to African-American voters. The phrase “free stuff” was trending on Twitter Friday morning...

Former Florida governor Jeb Bush made a weird comment during a town hall meeting in South Carolina on Thursday night. Responding to a question about how the Republican Party could win black votes, Bush said that "[o]ur messages is one of hope and aspiration. It isn't one of division and get in line and we'll take care of you with free stuff." The comment was odd in part because it echoed remarks made by Mitt Romney in 2012 that prompted a strong backlash from voters. It's similar to Romney's famous "47 percent" remarks, but also, as our Sean Sullivan notes,...

Editor’s Note: Every candidate running for president likes to highlight certain aspects of his or her biography. This is an occasional series taking a deeper look at 2016 candidates’ claims about their personal, professional or political record. We welcome suggestions for future fact checks, which we ultimately will compile as a collection. See our complete Scott Walker biography collection here. *** “I started as a secretary, typing and filing for a nine-person real estate firm. It’s only in this country that you can go from being a secretary to chief executive of the largest tech company in the world, and...

When Fiorina lost her Senate bid in 2010, she had lots of bills left to pay. So she did what any multimillionaire who loaned her campaign cash would do: She paid herself first. After Carly Fiorina’s unsuccessful 2010 run for Senate in California, it took her more than four years to fully pay staff and vendors for their work on her campaign to unseat Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer. But a review of Federal Election Commission records by The Daily Beast shows that Fiorina first paid herself back for more than $1.25 million in personal loans she made to the campaign,...

Carly Fiorina has taken a hard line against Planned Parenthood as a Republican presidential candidate, but in 2005 she invested in a health care website similar to WebMD that touted abortion benefits and directed users to Planned Parenthood. The Revolution Health Group website assured users abortion is safe and directed them to pro-choice groups including Planned Parenthood for more information, but did not link to any pro-life groups or offer a pro-choice perspective. Fiorina joined RHG as an investor and board member when it was founded in 2005. Her campaign did not respond to requests for comment regarding her knowledge...

In Carly Fiorina's telling, the only times she's been in Washington have been when she's fighting it. Standing in a jam-packed open-air smoke shed here outside Columbia on Wednesday, the surging Republican presidential candidate once again blasted the "professional political class" and the lawyers, lobbyists and special interests that cater to it. Her stump speech highlights her private sector career -- starting as a secretary and ending up as the chief executive of Hewlett-Packard -- that voters here rave makes her an appealing candidate in this season of outsiders. But what Fiorina rarely mentions are her ties to that same...

Here is the 218-page opposition research report on Carly Fiorina compiled by political research firm Gragert Jones for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in April 2010.

This election is not just about our favorite candidate, it is also about strategy. Not because we want it that way but because the GOP has made it that way. If they were not throwing everything they got at Trump they would be throwing it at Ted Cruz or Carson or whatever other candidate stands between the nomination and Bush. They Rep. Senators started a new non-profit named Our New America so they could receive donations anonymously to be used to fight conservatives. http://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/nonprofit-to-give-cover-to-senate-republicans-120049#ixzz3fpPW2R6w On this basis I refer you to the Conservative Tree House article, which will further explain...

GOP hopeful says there is little Congress can do to improve the nuclear pact MORE Hillary Clinton Grows Lead Over Bernie Sanders, Poll Finds Ben Carson’s Campaign Defends Muslim President Remarks What the First Muslim Congressman Had to Say About Ben Carson’s Comments on Islam Nazi-Inspired Party Gains on Island Hit by Refugee Influx NBC News Pastor Hailed After Gunman Opens Fire in Selma Church NBC News Pope Meets Fidel Castro After Largest Papal Mass Ever NBC News White House hopeful Carly Fiorina said Monday it’s time to be realistic about the pending deal with Iran over its nuclear ambitions:...

Carly Fiorina, a Republican candidate president and the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, presents herself on the campaign trail as a hawk on Iran. She’s promising to take a hardline on the regime in Tehran. However, during her time as the chief executive of HP, she “sold hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of products to Iran through a foreign subsidiary, despite strict U.S. export sanctions,” Bloomberg reports. While running the show at HP, Fiorina thwarted sanctions by dealing with Iran through European and Middle Eastern companies, allowing for the tech company to dominate the market in Tehran. By 2007, HP-made...

After the last presidential nomination cycle, where Mitt Romney had to struggle a bit to get the nomination, GOP leaders decided to make it easier for one of their own to get the nomination. (snip) Therefore, GOP insiders thought that increasing the number of states who award delegates based on "winner take all" – where the largest vote-getter, even if only a plurality, gets all the delegates – would aid an establishment GOP candidate, especially in a fractured primary such as this one. They also condensed the primary calendar, so an insurgent candidate won't have as much time and opportunity...

Whoops! New Senate nominee Carly Fiorina (R-CA) was caught in an unfortunate open mic incident today, mocking her rival Sen. Barbara Boxer's hair, complaining about Fox's Sean Hannity and even talking about cheeseburgers she wished she'd eaten the night before. Fiorina, who won a 3-way primary last night, was preparing for an interview with CNN affiliate KXTV this morning and chatting with her aides. In a several-minute chat with the camera rolling that CNN posted online, Fiorina mocks Boxer's hairdo. Laughing, Fiorina tells her staff that someone had seen Boxer on television and "said what everyone says, 'God what is...

Jeb Bush made it clear on Friday night that, unlike Donald J. Trump, he would not give credence to conspiracy theories about President Obama’s religion or nationality. Speaking at a conference for Republican activists and donors on Mackinac Island off the coast of Michigan, Mr. Bush made a point to say that his issue with Mr. Obama is one of policy. “Barack Obama is a talented man,” Mr. Bush said during a 20-minute speech at the Grand Hotel. “And, by the way, he is an American, he is a Christian.”

Twenty-four hours after his debate performance in front of an audience of 23 million Wednesday night, Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush appeared in front of a more humbling number: about 100. As the Washington Post’s David Weigal and Ed O’Keefe reported, Mr. Bush’s first post-debate rally took place in a half-full Las Vegas rec center room.

Carly Fiorina left the Republican debate Wednesday night with her head held high. Rapid reaction resulted in high praise for the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, but not all the news was positive. During one portion of the debate, Fiorina and Republican front runner Donald Trump spared over their business records. Trump hit Fiorina hard, citing a recent editorial by Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, of the Yale School of Management , who referred to her as one of the worst CEOs in recent memory. While how bad Fiorina was as CEO of HP is up for debate, a recent report by Bloomberg points...

In 1988 Donald Trump was interviewed by CNN's Larry King and NBC's Chris Wallace (Now FNC), at the Republican National Convention. Trump was introduced on NBC as being a "conservative," and had a very interesting interview where he praised George H. W. Bush, saying that he would make a great President. On NBC, it was revealed by Tom Brokaw that Trump had prospered greatly from the Reagan years, which explains why Trump is such a fan of fiscal conservatism. It was Reaganomics that helped Trump find the American Dream. While Trump identified as a conservative back in 1988, he tried...