Opinion: Carly Fiorina raises a caveat about Sarah Palin (then notes it applies to others)
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Key John McCain advisor Carly Fiorina gave an honest answer on a radio show today when asked about Sarah Palin -- and immediately saw it characterized on the Huffington Post as a gaffe (which, in the astute observation by journalist Michael Kinsley, is so often the noun used when a politician actually tells the truth).
Fiorina has since expanded on her comment during an appearance on MSNBC -- and provided a response that rings even truer.
Fiorina, the one-time head of Hewlett-Packard, was touting Palin’s credentials on a St. Louis station when her questioner asked whether she thought the Republican vice presidential nominee had the experience to run a major company such as her former employer.
‘No, I don’t,’ Fiorina said. ‘But you know what? That’s not what she’s running for.’
Boom! Words that bloggers could go to town with.
Later, MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell asked Fiorina about her remark. Fiorina stood by it, but also said that her opinion applied to McCain, Barack Obama and Joe Biden as well.
She added: ‘It is a fallacy to suggest the country is like a company.’
Given what’s happening to so many seeming mainstays on Wall Street, that’s a very, very good thing.
Addendum: Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor couldn’t resist issuing the following statement:
If John McCain’s top economic advisor doesn’t think he can run a corporation, how on Earth can he run the largest economy in the world in the midst of a financial crisis? Apparently even the people who run his campaign agree that the economy is an issue John McCain doesn’t understand as well as he should.
We remained heartened, rather than dismayed, by Fiorina’s distinction between politicians and business executives.
-- Don Frederick