As the lone female presidential contender in the Republican Party, Carly Fiorina cannot escape talking about her gender, but the former Hewlett-Packard CEO says if she were to take on Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton, performance would matter more.
"[Clinton] would have to talk about her track record, her transparency and her leadership capabilities," Fiorina said on Tuesday during a stop on her five-day tour of Iowa,
reports The Omaha World-Herald.
As she weighs a possible run for the Republican nomination, Fiorina does not shy away from touting the obvious advantage her gender would provide in a contest against Clinton.
"If Hillary Clinton were to face a [Republican] female nominee, there are a whole set of things that she won't be able to talk about. She won't be able to talk about being the first woman president. She won't be able to talk about a war on women without being challenged. She won't be able to play the gender card,"
she told the editorial board of The Christian Science Monitor last week.
In seeking to distinguish herself from the GOP presidential field, Fiorina touts the unique qualities a woman would bring to the office of president.
"If you get women involved in any problem
— economic growth, poverty, disease, conflict resolution … the problem gets better," she told The Christian Science Monitor.
As the Clinton campaign has so far passed on exposing its candidate to inquiries from the press, Fiorina frequently engages with reporters and takes on challenges to her own record.
When challenged by MSNBC host Mika Brzezinski earlier this month to back up her claims that Clinton has no record of achievement, Fiorina did not back down.
"Because she really doesn't," replied Fiorina. "I mean, she's had a lot of very impressive titles. But a position is just a position, it's all about what you do in it. And I think her time in the position of secretary of state is demonstrably one that lacks accomplishment but that also has some real blemishes on it," she continued.
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It is her record on foreign policy, in particular, that lies at the heart of Fiorina's criticism of Clinton.
"Challenging Clinton on foreign policy is central to Fiorina's strategy, and likely a first among women jockeying for a position on their party's presidential ticket,"
writes liberal Daily Beast columnist Eleanor Clift.
"A woman running for president and therefore the position of commander-in-chief is still new enough in our political process that Fiorina is following the textbook example of showing toughness," she adds.
The "toughness" extends to defending her own record and distinguishes her approach to Clinton, who has so far refused to sit down with the press.
"Look, I got fired from Hewlett-Packard. I make no secret about that. I got fired in a boardroom brawl," she said in response to a question in Iowa this week about her departure from the tech company.
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