Last week I posted a diary, "Let's Meet John McCain's Economic Advisors," in which I highlighted three of McCain's top advisors, including Carly Fiorina. As the contours of McCain's surrogate landscape come into view, it's clear we'll be seeing a lot of Fiorina.
So, who is Carly Fiorina?
Fiorina has recently come aboard the McCain campaign as an economic advisor. How's she doing so far? On George Stephanopoulos this morning (Sunday, May 11), Fiorina was asked whether she could name one economist who believed the "gas tax holiday" was rational policy. Fiorina responded that she could not, but it didn't matter because economists are too "abstract" and out of touch with the concerns of ordinary Americans. Fiorina then offered her street cred on populist concerns by reciting the litany--gas and food prices, foreclosures, high cost of college, medical costs--of concerns of real people out there in the real America. These are concerns, Fiorina added, that pointy-headed economists and intellectuals--elitist meme alert!--simply don't get. Concerns that John McCain and his advisors understand at a deep and abiding level. The next question from Stephanopoulos should have been: "What does it say about Republican stewardship of the economy that millions of Americans would consider a savings of 30-50 dollars over several months significant?" In other words, "Why has economic policy delivered ever more Americans to the precipice while enabling the top few percent to live like Grand Poobahs? (Interestingly, last week Terry McAuliffe told Andrea Mitchell that ordinary Americans were "desperate" for these few dollars).
What's the solution? What's the plan? Firoina can offer--of course--nothing more than the party line: market-based solutions, privatization, lower corporate taxes, relief from burdensome regulation. She actually argued that the "discipline of the marketplace" was a pancea to the biting concerns of Americans. Ah, the market--all that is solid melts into air.
In answer to the question, who is Carly Fiorina--if you'll forgive me a bit of self-plagarizing--here is the portion of my diary that offered a quick profile of Fiorina:
Carly Fiorina: At first glance this seems like a bit of a head scratcher. But, part of her value to McCain is likey that she's well-spoken and very telegenic.
Now deputed as the "RNC Victory Chairwoman," Fiorina was a diva of the "new economy" of the late 1990's and early 2000's. As the CEO of Hewlett-Packard between 1999-2005, Fiorina regularly appeared on the financial channels spouting unalloyed "new economy" gibberish. I once asked my sister-in-law--at the time a HP executive--what Fiorina meant when she waxed rhapsodic about "synergistic strategies across mulitple platforms." After all, the centerpiece of Fiorina's business plan--swallowing a moribund PC maker (Compaq) at the cost of core competencies--didn't seem particularly "synergistic" or new. My sister-in-law just shrugged her shoulders.
What was new during Fiorina's tenure? As the company's fortunes soured, Fiorina broke with a fundamental article of faith at HP and authorized--for the first time in the company's history--large layoffs. At her direction, over 7,000 HP employees were let go. Eventually, Fiorina herself was dismissed by the board of HP after failing to perform to expectations. On news of her dismissal, HP's stock price spiked 7%. Happily, Fiorina did better than most other fired HP employees and pocketed a severance package that included $21,000,000 in cash. This certainly doesn't make her unique as she is just one of many corporate executives who are routinely rewarded for their failures.
Today, Fiorina sits on the board of Revolution Health Care Group (started by another huckster of the "new economy", Steve Case), a web portal designed to "help" individuals shop for health insurance. (Finally, she has achieved synergy: McCain's health care plan--whose cornerstone is that each of us is in a better position to individually buy health insurance, becaue "we know best"--would surely benefit Revolution Health Care Group).
Firoina is a huckster, a post-millenial Elmer Gantry. Just this morning she couldn't resist slipping into Carly Babble when she commented that the government needs to "incent innovation?" Incent? Fiornia and the rest of McCain's crew will do their best in the coming months to "incent" Americans to vote for McCain--"incent" them through misdirection and intellectually dishonest arguments. Let's be ready for them.