The final question from the audience at Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina’s meet and greet in Marshalltown was prefaced by, “Now I know this is kind of a fluff question…”
The elderly male voter then went on to ask Fiorina what she though of fellow contender Donald Trump’s position in the race and his membership of the Republican party. Fiorina did not miss a beat with her response.
“I think that Donald Trump taps into an anger that people have with professional and political establishments,” said Fiorina. “But I’ve been talking about this for a while, as has Dr. Ben Carson.”
Fiorina further pointed out the difference between herself and Trump.
“I talk about solutions to issues, not just complain about the issues of this country,” said Fiorina. “So I’m going to continue outlining how to solve these problems and not just focus on pointing them out and talking negatively about other candidates. Politics is not entertainment. I take this very seriously.”
The former Hewlett-Packard CEO has not made a trip to Iowa since Sen. Joni Ernst’s “Roast and Ride” fundraiser on June 6. She has been campaigning hard in other caucus states such as South Carolina and New Hampshire. Fiorina has touted her strong economic experience and her positive relationships with world leaders.
“I am the only candidate on either side that has met the most foreign leaders, with the exception of Hillary Clinton,” said Fiorina. “But these meetings were not for photo ops – I actually sat one on one with these people and got things done.”
One audience member asked Fiorina her position on Common Core.
“Common Core is a bad thing,” said Fiorina. “It’s become a way for the government to tell teachers what to teach and students what to think. I don’t agree with it and I don’t think we should be allowing bureaucrats to decide what goes on in our schools.”
The theme of reducing the size of government is seen throughout Fiorina’s campaign ideas, from reducing term limits to trashing the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
“What the VA did to our veterans is a stain on our nation’s collar,” said Fiorina. “Thousands of veterans died waiting to be treated, and that cannot continue to happen. But this comes up in the news, politicians pass a bill, and they’re done. But nothing gets done. We’ve only fired one person from the VA since these scandals broke. That needs to change.”
In the latest Quinnipiac University poll of Iowa voters, 69 percent still say they don’t have a favorability opinion of Fiorina because they don’t know enough about her. Dr. Ben Carson and Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal also produced high percentages among voters who said they had not heard enough about them to have an favorable or non-favorable opinion of them.
However, each time Fiorina finishes addressing a crowd of Iowans, audience members have fairly good things to say about the only female Republican presidential candidate.
“I’m still shopping around among the Republicans,” said one voter, “but I like Carly. She could definitely be in the top ten.”
Another voter in Ames said she is still on the fence about Fiorina.
“You know, I’ve only seen her once, and I could barely hear her!” said Marilyn Krocheski. “But I enjoyed her personal story about breast cancer because I had breast cancer too. So she connects with me that way.”
Fiorina has several more stops in the Des Moines metro area on Friday and Saturday.