Carly Fiorina’s Town Hall
By Ivette Huertas
Former CEO of Hewlett-Packard Carly Fiorina came to the New Hampshire Primary Student Convention to address a very young audience, and to convince them that she should become President of the United States. Once Fiorina entered the stage, she began to capture the attention of the young audience before her by telling them, “This election really, truly, is your election”. She continued on to introduce herself, speaking of her journey from secretary to CEO, and stating that only in the United States is a journey like hers possible, because the U.S. “values merit over privilege” and “hard work over entitlement”. Fiorina made strong efforts to remind the young crowd that the United States, while not perfect, is an “exceptional country” that voters must take back from the political elite, who “no longer protect the people that pay for it”. While her stance on the corruption of the government, particularly congress, is something that many can agree with, she did not address what should be done about that, aside from electing an executive that was never a member of the political class that she references.
Her important points throughout the campaign across the nation have been rooted in her belief that a political class should not exist, and should not have ever existed. She emphasized her role as an outsider, hoping that she will thrive because of it. She described the current government as a “vast, bloated, corrupt bureaucracy” and often used the word “inept” to address the government in its current state. Fiorina tailored her address to the young crowd in a meaningful way; she consistently highlighted the young age of her listeners, and pushed them to get involved because she said the current election will affect young people’s lives far more than her own. She frequently referenced the idea of “settling”, as well. She discussed the constant pressure people can face to simply settle for what is happening in the world, rather than getting involved and “challenging the status quo”. While this was all very inspiring, it did not seem that the crowd was very convinced that she should win the Republican nomination.
When given the opportunity to ask questions, many hands shot up into the air. One question that got an energetic response from her came from a Virginia Commonwealth University student, Niyah White. White inquired about Fiorina’s rhetoric, “no more baby parts”, used by the Planned Parenthood shooter in Colorado, and whether Fiorina could argue that she was not responsible for his motives. Fiorina was visibly unpleased that this question was asked, and responded by saying that though the question was “a great sound bite” it was “wrong” because she was in no way responsible for the shooting. She was also asked a question she seemed displeased with by another college student in her audience. The young lady asked Fiorina about labeling herself a feminist while denying the rights of a woman to do what she pleases with her body. Fiorina strongly responded with another question: she asked why underage girls need permission from a parent to enter a tanning bed, but not need permission for an abortion. The student who asked the question was clearly not happy with the response she received, and other members of the audience even cheered for her after she asked that challenging question to a female candidate running for office.
An interesting thing to note in this current election cycle is the role of identification. Female voters may flock to the female presidential candidates eager to ask questions about equal pay, because those are the issues that directly affect those that identify as female. It seems that in this election, with one female candidate running for the nomination in each party, there is a conflict with female voters who are undecided. These voters may more harshly judge both female candidates in effort to see which candidate would better protect the interests of women. Fiorina references the excitement that would occur if both Fiorina and Clinton were seen on stage debating together for the presidential race. Fiorina’s approach to the younger crowd was meaningful because of the emphasis she put onto the youthfulness of the lives in that room. She also took strong stances on issues such as mental health, drug abuse, and Veteran’s Affairs.
Carly Fiorina’s town hall did not change the opinions of many folks in that room, but it would be fair to say that it may have inspired them to take a hard look at what is happening in congress, with the constant elect-reelect cycle, and try to change something.