Sarah Palin Endorses Carly Fiorina

By: Brian Montopoli
Topics: Republicans ,; Campaign 2010

Carly Fiorina on "Face The Nation"

(Credit: CBS)

Republican California Senate candidate and former Hewlett-Packard chief executive Carly Fiorina today announced that she had secured the backing of former Republican vice presidential candidate and Alaska governor and current television personality Sarah Palin.

"Carly is the Commonsense Conservative that California needs and our country could sure use in these trying times," Palin said in a release. "She's not a career politician. She's a businesswoman who has run a major corporation."

"I'm a huge proponent of contested primaries, so I'm glad to see the contest in California's GOP, but I support Carly as she fights through a tough primary against a liberal member of the GOP who seems to bear almost no difference to Boxer, one of the most leftwing members of the Senate," Palin added.

That was a shot at former Rep. Tom Campbell, one of the three Republicans in the race. (The other is Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, who has Tea Party support -- and who cannot be happy with the news.)

Palin also trumpeted the endorsement on her Facebook page, where she called Fiorina "pro-life, pro-traditional marriage, pro-military, and pro-strict border security and against amnesty."

"Carly is the only conservative in the race who can beat Barbara Boxer," she wrote, in a possible explanation for why she isn't backing DeVore. "That's no RINO. That's a winner."

Fiorina was an adviser to the John McCain/Palin 2008 GOP presidential ticket, and she said she is "honored and grateful" for Palin's support.

"She, too, is a political outsider and a strong fiscal conservative, and we share a common concern for the direction our country is headed in under Barbara Boxer and her allies in Washington," Fiorina said in a statement.

The Associated Press reports that Campbell cast the endorsement as settling "the IOU from the 2008 election cycle."

Palin and Fiorina seem somewhat odd bedfellows, particularly as Fiorina is expected to campaign as a relative moderate if she gets through the primary and gets to the general election in liberal-leaning California.

The primary will be held on June 8th, and most polls show Campbell currently leading second-place Fiorina.

Brian Montopoli
Brian Montopoli is the senior political reporter at CBSNews.com.
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by iknight May 13, 2010 10:50 AM EDT: If you wanted to really lose competent employees, tick off customers, and denigrate your suppliers, you might displace Easter with Martin Luther King day. Well, this is exactly what Carly did. And those who predicted that HP's stock would drop 90% were wrong--it dropped 95%, and HP has never really fully recovered from that.

Why would such a failed person be such a media darling now? Why would anybody in California want her for any job, much less a politician?; Reply to this comment


by KayJay503 May 8, 2010 12:35 AM EDT: They call candidates like Carly Fiorino "stealth candidates".

Or they would, if she didn't make public flip-flopping on policy stances and the issues so obnoxious to the majority of voters. Her and John McCain both.

No wonder the Grifter Queen "likes" them both.; Reply to this comment


by isanyonefair May 7, 2010 2:41 PM EDT: They are both incompetent. I'm not sure if this really helps either one of them.

Sarah is Bush + Cheney + Lipstick.
And Carly is just as incompetent at business as Bush was.

California needs to stop looking left & right and pick a candidate that can balance the books from the middle .. WITH the legislature.; Reply to this comment


by marullus May 7, 2010 9:39 AM EDT: It is easy to see why Sarah support Fiorina, there is more money to be had that way. Sarah is not the brightest bulb in the limelight, but she will do whatever it takes to be amongst the brightest displays. Sarah's number one rule for endorsing someone is what's in it for me!; Reply to this comment

by jc429j3 May 7, 2010 8:31 AM EDT

Didn't Fiorina say that Palin was not qualified for office or even a position at HP....I vaguely remember that from the 08 campaign. I can not believe that because Sarah Palin sold a few books, and given a few speeches that some of you, who did not think she was qualified to be VP, actually think that she is any more qualified to run anything other than her mouth now. She as learned nothing in the last 2 years other than how to manipulate. And I still honestly believe that if she were some wrinkle old bitty you all would not give her the time of day. There are other female republicans infinitely more qualified than she is.

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by isanyonefair May 7, 2010 2:47 PM EDT: But the Nascar Republicans love her. Its the sad part of democracy. The leadership reflects the intellect of the populous. Only fix is to improve the educational system. Really sad part is that the education system is raided anytime funds are short.

We really need to focus on the education in this country.

Voters need to be smart enough to make educated choices.

by proman24 May 7, 2010 7:55 AM EDT

One of the reasons she endorsed her is because she's a gun owner. What the hell is wrong with these people? When did more guns become a good thing? What positive results can possibly come from that? It's so unfortunate that there's so many mindless people who are easily influenced by this airhead.

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by buzbeech May 7, 2010 8:28 AM EDT: I had rather be an air head than full of hot air.


by pasmalltown May 7, 2010 8:49 AM EDT: by buzbeech May 7, 2010 8:28 AM EDT
"I had rather be an air head than full of hot air."
---------------------------------
And you're qualified to say this because you believe you can tell the difference between the two???

by formrusmcsgt May 7, 2010 5:52 AM EDT

"She's not a career politician. She's a businesswoman who has run a major corporation" - straight into the ground....

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by MiddleClassWorker May 7, 2010 9:32 AM EDT: Exactly.

* Merger Failed To Produce for Shareholders, Make HP More Competitive. Fortune reported, "First, under the only lens that matters, did the famed merger that Fiorina engineered between HP and Compaq produce value for HP's shareholders? Second, with that merger nearly three years past, is HP in shape to thrive in its brutally competitive world? The answers are no and doubtful...This was a big bet that didn't pay off, that didn't even come close to attaining what Fiorina and HP's board said was in store." [Fortune, 02/07/05]

* Even Before Compaq Merger, Fiorina's Tenure At HP A Series Of Disappointments. According to the Economist, "She has had to warn repeatedly of disappointing results. In the nine months to July, HP saw its net profit fall by 82%, to $506m. The company has slashed costs, announced 6,000 job cuts and asked staff to volunteer for a temporary 10% pay cut. Although there had been some speculation that Ms Fiorina would be replaced, the takeover of Compaq shows that she has - at least for the time being - still got the backing of her board." [Economist, 9/4/01]

* Centerpiece Of Fiorina's Tenure Described As A "Total Flop." The London Observer reported, "With hindsight, it's hard to see how Carly Fiorina, America's pre-eminent female executive, who was fired as CEO of Hewlett-Packard last week, could have survived. The centerpiece of her career - a $ 24 billion merger with Compaq - was a flop; HP's board was threatening to strip her of day-to-day responsibilities at the firm; As one of only eight women heading Fortune 500 companies, the HP/Compaq deal was Fiorina's fatal error: not just because the strategy was flawed - two years on it has not achieved its goal of improving cost efficiencies in HP's PC business - but also because she alienated too many people in the process of pursuing that goal." [London Observer, 2/13/05]


by snorp73 May 7, 2010 1:36 AM EDT: If liberals wanted to give Carly a "kiss of death," they could ask Barack Obama to endorse her. Better yet, have him campaign for her. He's only been president for one year and campaigning for Corzine in NJ and Coakley in Massachussets only guaranteed a win for conservatives.

Listening to liberals speak about Palin knowing this about Obama's tanking popularity, for Palin, it must be like being condescended to by a Tarot Card reader.; Reply to this comment