MCCAIN THROWS FIORINA UNDER THE BUS…. Yesterday, Carly Fiorina, a McCain advisor/surrogate and the former CEO of Hewlett Packard, argued that she wouldn’t trust Sarah Palin to run a large company. Soon after, hoping to make the situation better, Fiorina said John McCain isn’t qualified to lead a large company, either.
And with that, we probably won’t be hearing from Carly Fiornia for a while.
A top McCain official contacted by CNN said, on condition on anonymity, “No big deal, but not how you get on the surrogate all-star team. Very Biden-like.”
“This campaign source said Fiorina would be discouraged from additional media interviews.
Another top campaign adviser was far less diplomatic. “Carly will now disappear,” this source said. “Senator McCain was furious.” Asked to define “disappear,” this source said, adding that she would be off TV for a while — but remain at the Republican National Committee and keep her role as head of the party’s joint fundraising committee with the McCain campaign.
Fiorina was booked for several TV interviews over the next few days, including one on CNN. Those interviews have been canceled.
Another McCain campaign aide told CNN that “important people are mad because the timing is horrible.”
My only question is what took the McCain campaign so long to grow tired of one of its top surrogates. In July, discussing consumer-driven health insurance, Fiorina proposed “a real, live example which I’ve been hearing a lot about from women: There are many health insurance plans that will cover Viagra but won’t cover birth-control medication. Those women would like a choice.” When McCain was asked whether he agreed, it led to one of the more embarrassing moments of the summer.
Soon after, Fiorina told Bloomberg News that McCain would be open to increasing taxes on wealthier Americans. The campaign had to quickly walk that back.
And soon after that, Fiorina, on NBC, contradicted McCain on the No Child Left Behind policy.
I’m surprised they didn’t throw her under the bus sooner.
