CARLY? – AT 10:36 A.M. ET:  Carly Fiorina, the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, pretty much announced for president today.  No one gives her much chance of gaining the top slot.  But vice president?  Well, you never know.  From The Hill:

Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina said Sunday that she is almost certain she will run for the GOP nomination for president.

Fiorina told “Fox News Sunday” host Chris Wallace that there is a “very high” chance she will run, and followed it up by specifying that the probability is “higher than 90 percent.”

If she decides to run, Fiorina wants to wait until late April or early May to announce, she said.
“We need to make sure we have the right time in place, that we have the right support, that we have the right financial resources lined up, just as all the other candidates have done,” Fiorina said in an interview on the show.

Fiorina took the interview as a chance to take some shots at former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who is expected to announce soon her candidacy in the 2016 race as a Democrat.

“There’s a competence issue now. Anyone in 2015 who says you can’t have two email accounts on a single device obviously doesn’t understand technology,” she said, referring to Clinton’s statement that she used a private email account to avoid carrying multiple smartphones.

When Wallace asked Fiorina to make the case for her nomination, the Republican, who ran for Senate in 2010, focused largely on her tenure at HP from 1999 to 2005.

“Because I have a deep understanding of how the economy actually works, having started as a secretary and become the chief executive of the largest technology company in the world,” she said.

COMMENT:  Being the only woman in an otherwise all-male lineup is an advantage.  It's also an advantage when a candidate presents herself as well as Carly Fiorina does.  I've seen her in action and she's terrific, standing head and shoulders above the conniving Clinton.

She has deficits.  Her time at HP was controversial and she was eventually forced out.  There inevitably will be the anonymous stories charging her with incompetence, cruel management and self-promotion.  And her experience, while admirable, is thin when it comes to public service.  Also, she has never won an election.

She should be welcomed to the race.  I think she'll be an asset and draw more viewers to the debates.  And the contrast with Hillary will be very pleasing to see.

March 29, 2015