For the only woman in the Republican presidential race, gender hasn’t been much of an advantage.
After two standout debate performances earlier in the campaign, which lifted Carly Fiorina to the top three in some polls, both nationally and in the critical early states of Iowa and New Hampshire, Fiorina has fallen far behind the top tier of GOP candidates.
While Fiorina polls slightly better among female voters, they’re not giving her the boost she needs to get back among the front-runners, and experts say her gender isn’t likely to be a significant factor for Republican women voters.
“She had her time in the sun. She did well in the debates, but that time is a while ago,” said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll, which showed in its most recent poll that Fiorina was getting 3% support overall and 4% among women voters. A USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll out Tuesday showed Fiorina with just 1% support among GOP voters, including 1% of women. There’s little difference in her views and values and those of most male Republican candidates, Brown said.
That includes on abortion.
Sparking controvery
Fiorina sparked controversy when she described in a September debate an undercover video of Planned Parenthood workers discussing organ harvesting.
After recent shootings at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, Fiorina was asked whether her strong language about the group had contributed to the shootings.
“The vast majority of Americans agree that what Planned Parenthood is doing is wrong,” Fiorina told Fox News. “And that’s why the vast majority are prepared to not only defund Planned Parenthood, but to also stop abortion for any reason at all after five months. Anyone who tries to link this terrible tragedy to anyone who opposes abortion or the sale of body parts … this is a typical left wing tactics.”
‘Are you the new act?’
Fiorina does try to connect with women through speeches by discussing the challenges she faced rising to the top of the business world, including a first business meeting with a client at a strip club called The Boardroom and being called the token “bimbo” in her office.
After being told she probably wouldn’t want to go to that AT&T business meeting, Fiorina told the National Federation of Republican Women in September, “I dressed in my most severe suit with a little bow tie. I got in the cab, gave him the name and address, and the cab driver turned around and asked, ‘Are you the new act?’”
Those challenges, though, don’t define her, she said.
“I am not asking for your vote because I’m a woman. I’m asking for your vote because I’m the most qualified to win this job and do this job,” she said.
The mood in New Hampshire
For Republican women voters, gender doesn’t really matter, said New Hampshire state Rep. Jeanine Notter, the newly elected president of the New Hampshire Federation for Republican Women who is neutral in the presidential race. Fiorina spoke to the organization in November and had a sizable crowd on hand when she filed her paperwork for the New Hampshire primary.
“It doesn’t matter how tall they are or what color or gender they are,” Notter said of the candidates. “It’s all about how they’re going to work to make America safe.”
Katie Packer, deputy campaign manager for Mitt Romney in 2012, is one of the founders of Burning Glass in Alexendria, Va., a company that helps GOP candidates work on their messaging to women. While she sees advantages for women candidates in lower-ticket races like U.S. Senate or House, the same can’t be said for the presidential race.
“There’s no indication that it matters in a Republican primary,” she said. “Republicans don’t have much of a history of following or supporting women because they’re women. They’re much more interested in their policies and what they stand for and whether they think the candidate is more electable in a general election.”
Fiorina might have an advantage on that count, Packer said, because of a potential match-up with Democrat Hillary Clinton.
The best option to challenge Hillary?
Fiorina has often said that she would be the best contender against the former secretary of State.
“Perhaps you haven’t made up your minds who to support yet, or maybe you have. But one thing I know for sure, in your heart of hearts, you know you can’t wait to see me debate Hillary Clinton,” Fiorina told members of the Republican Jewish Coalition last week. “And that’s because you know what will happen. I will win. But the only way you’re going to see that debate is if I’m your party’s nominee.”
Clinton, however, has a broader base of support among women. In the Quinnipiac poll, she holds a commanding 60% to 30% lead over Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. Among women, 65% support her, while 53% of the men surveyed favor Clinton.
For Anne Doyle, the incoming president of the Michigan Chapter of the International Women’s Forum, Fiorina is indistinguishable from the men in the race for theRepublican nomination.
“I think she’s neutral in terms of gender. It just hasn’t given her an edge,” she said. “She’s very smart. She’s loaded with facts and really knows her stuff, but there’s this hardness to her in how she carries herself and how she speaks. We don’t want women to be softer than a man, but we don’t want them to be tougher than a man either.”
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