Posted on 05/28/2015 6:34:55 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
As the various candidates made the media rounds this week, there was one interview which jumped out at me. It was Carly Fiorina sitting down with Andrea Mitchell on MSNBC and taking one of the tougher questions facing every White House aspirant… if elected, what do you plan to do about ISIS? The answers we frequently get are disappointing at best – if there’s an answer given at all – but this time the reporter almost seemed shocked to have somebody lay out numerous elements of a plan in plain, clear language.
Before we get to the specifics, check out the brief video and the transcript.
Andrea Mitchell: “What would you do now against ISIS?”
Carly Fiorina: “I would do very specific things. First, instead of having a Camp David conference to talk our Arab allies into a bad deal with Iran, I would have had a Camp David conference to talk with our Arab allies about how we can support them to fight ISIS. Let me give you very specific examples. The Kurds have been asking us to arm them for three years – we still have not. The Jordanians have been asking us to provide them with bombs and material. We know King Abdullah of Jordan – I’ve known him for many years – he took the appropriate leadership steps when a Jordanian pilot was burned alive. He was here in this country asking us for bombs and material. We haven’t provided him with any of them. He’s now looking to China for that. The Egyptian president, a very brave and pious Muslim, who has said there is a cancer in the heart of Islam, has asked us to share intelligence. We are not. The Turks have asked us to help them topple Bashar al-Assad. We are not. There are a whole set of things we’ve been asked to do by our allies who know this is their fight, and we’re not doing any of them. So I would hold a Summit and talk with them about that.”
There are two things to touch on relating to this exchange. First there is the obvious matter of what the plan is. Honestly, I had some questions about it myself as I heard Fiorina explaining it. From the 10,000 foot level there’s nothing wrong here. Getting the actors in the affected region more involved on the side of the good guys (or the least bad guys that can be found in this case) is a necessity. Offering requested aide to any marginally trustworthy leaders who are willing to take sides against ISIS is a win for us. But we also can’t afford to be unrealistic in terms of just how active Jordan and Egypt will be. Their plates are rather full of terrorist badness at the moment and they’re just not going to be sending huge ranks of troops into Syria or Iraq no matter who is leading the charge. But they can still provide some help, and if we have the resources they need it’s worth looking at. As for the Turks… well, I’ve given up on them for the time being in terms of helping anyone but themselves. The Kurds, on the other hand, are ready to fight. In fact, they are already fighting, and could probably do a lot more if we supported them more completely. I think Fiorina is on the right track there.
The second element of this interview, though, could serve as the next installment of our series on This Is How You Do It. Too many candidates – particularly Hillary Clinton – fail to answer this question in a concrete fashion. They’re happy to cast blame on those who came before and run down the ideas of their competitors, but they rarely lay out any concrete steps for fear of being criticized or proven wrong later. This doesn’t do much to inspire confidence. Whether you agree with her plan or not, at least Fiorina was willing to answer the question and demonstrate that she’s been considering the crisis and is forming a plan for how to deal with it. And if you disagree with her, well… isn’t that the point of having a primary? We’re supposed to be getting all the plans out there so the voters can decide which ones sound best and toss their support to the candidates they agree with.
I’m still not signing on as a committed supporter of Carly, or any other candidate for that matter. But watching the way she deals with both the media and Hillary Clinton, I do like the cut of her jib. A few more interviews such as this from the rest of the field – or candidates on the debate stage showing the intestinal fortitude to put their specific plans forward for consideration – could make for a more productive political atmosphere. More like this please.
You go Girl! Your performance on the campaign tour is making a believer out of me!
Great. Her campaign as a Republican is to give more weapons to muslims.
“Your performance on the campaign tour is making a believer out of me!”
From your posting history, I believe you already are a believer.
I am just kidding. I kind of like her too. I don’t know where she stands on all the issues but I enjoy watching her slap Hillary around.
I am pretty sure I won’t be voting for her but I do enjoy hearing from her. If it was her or Jeb, I are voting for Carly.
So what is your plan, wise guy?
If Fiorina wins nomination (Extremely unlikely) I would give half of my social security check to watch the one on one debates between Hillary & Carly. That would be the most exciting political TV since Newt neutered the gotcha questioners in 2012.
The only way my plan involves American weapons and muslims is with them on the receiving end of high velocity metal. Preferably delivered from aircraft at 35,000 feet.
Carly is a fool. And she ran HP into the ground.
L
First, don’t elect a person that nearly destroyed 2 companies.
Second, learn from history. You either kill muslims, conquer muslims or contain muslims. What you never do is align with them or arm them.
Now if you have a problem with the wisdom of that, then explain in detail how it is that we are in our current state and every time one of the three historic solutions was applied, there was not the state we live daily.
Carly has my vote. I’m all in. She is the only person who isn’t afraid to speak her mind. Forget focus groups, forget the “consultant” class advice, this woman is going to shake things up. A more formidable woman candidate than we’ve ever seen. On either side.
Even after obliterating ISIS, what would Fiorina do with those who tried to join? Will the joining of ISIS be protected by the 1st Amendment?
Go ahead. The sooner we collapse the better in all actuality. Then people with intelligence can rebuild what your stupidity helped destroy without such stupidity in it.
“If Fiorina wins nomination (Extremely unlikely) I would give half of my social security check to watch the one on one debates between Hillary & Carly. That would be the most exciting political TV since Newt neutered the gotcha questioners in 2012.”
She could win the nomination. 16 guys and her. If only half the women vote for her she can be the nominee.
Not to mention she got her political start as an "advisor" to the McCain-Romney wing of the GOP, working for their campaigns.
Sadly, judging from the comments on FR, the mainstream media has done a terrific job reinventing squishy moderate loser Carley Fiorina as a fiery conservative superstar and selling her to gullible conservative primary voters. All her supposed political skill is media created hype, just like Colin Powell and Tammy Duckworth.
The best I can say about her is she's not that big of a RINO by California standards (she's mildly pro-life and has a handful of other good conservative positions). Nationally, she brings nothing to the ticket and I want her nowhere near the nomination for President or VP.
First you kill the snake. Only then you worry about what to do with the body.
I kind of read over her position on most issues and there is not much where I disagree.
I don’t know enough about her career at HP.
I like the fact that she’s not a career politician. I don’t know why others on here don’t like her.
The elites wanted another vagina in the race. This is it.
“Great. Her campaign as a Republican is to give more weapons to muslims.”
Good observation succinctly presented.
Yes she did. The result of her disastrous "leadership" was that tens of thousands of HP and Compaq employees lost their jobs, as Fiorina took two of the biggest names in Enterprise Class computing solutions, munched them together and tried making them into a consumer products type of company.
DUMB, DUMB, DUMB, DUMB.
She's not fit to run a Gas Station IMO, much less a country.
Still, it might be entertaining to see her and Hitlery go at it.........
Carly Fiorina will be included in the GOP debates!
From Breitbart news:
The ever-widening Republican presidential field is all tied up. The best any GOP contender (or likely contender) is polling at is 10% — and there are a total of five(!) Republicans tied at that 10%: Jeb Bush, Ben Carson, Mike Huckabee, Sen. Marco Rubio , and Scott Walker.
The second tier is made up of Sen. Rand Paul, Sen. Ted Cruz,
Donald Trump , and Chris Christie . Carly Fiorina and John Kasich are tied.
Carly has made the top 10, and is gaining more recognition after every MSM intyerview!
If Fiorina had the guts to layoff dead wood at HP, may be she will also have the guts to cut the out of control federal spending.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.