Carly Fiorina has scored a huge political victory … possibly.
The result may produce a victory for the Republican Party establishment that cringes at the prospect of Donald J. Trump becoming the party’ 2016 presidential nominee.
CNN is playing host to the second GOP debate in two weeks. It re-did its ground rules for who will appear on the “first team” debate stage. It apparently gives Fiorina a legitimate shot at joining the other leading Republican presidential candidates. The change involves the polling strategy that CNN is using to determine which of the candidates deserve a shot at appearing in its top-tier debate.
This is a big deal on at least two levels.
First, Fiorina — who took part in the “happy hour debate” sponsored last month by Fox News — killed it in that encounter with six other second-tier candidates. For my money — and in the eyes of many observers — Fiorina outmaneuvered the other candidates and acquitted herself quite nicely in that encounter.
Meanwhile, the Fox News main event, featuring Donald Trump and nine other challengers, provided an amazing sideshow that continues to this day, with Trump feuding with Fox and with the network’s anchor Megyn Kelly over the tone and nature of a question Kelly posed about Trump’s record of anti-women rhetoric.
Which brings me to the second level of Fiorina’s victory.
She is likely now to be on the same stage with Trump at the CNN joint appearance. I’m salivating at the notion of Fiorina possibly baiting Trump into saying something profoundly crass about women, or about Fiorina in particular — and seeing whether Fiorina blows him out of the water with her own quick wit and sharp tongue.
Do you think the Republican establishment is waiting with bated breath to see whether Trump finally implodes?
If he does, the party brass may have to thank Carly Fiorina for lighting the fuse.