Everyone knows politicians are full of it, but Carly Fiorina thought she’d nail that coffin and stick it in the ground, Friday, by blatantly pandering to Iowa over her alma mater, Stanford, during the Rose Bowl.
Love my alma mater, but rooting for a Hawkeyes win today. #RoseBowl
— Carly Fiorina (@CarlyFiorina) January 1, 2016
Why would she do such a thing? Well, besides the fact that some folks simply cheer for teams other than their own, it may just have something to do with the fact that the Iowa Caucus is barreling down on us all as February fast approaches.
The Washington Post writes:
“You almost have to give Fiorina credit for the brazenness of this pandering – the shamelessness of her sports allegiance being available to the bidder with the most political currency.”
In a political field rife with double-talk, flip-flopping, and outright lies that politicians constantly use just to get into office, only to turn around and shirk all such statements and agendas; such flimsy, false pandering leaves an incredibly sour taste in one’s mouth and certainly does not win her any political points. What’s worse is that Fiorina’s campaign must know her chances of winning the nomination are about as good as the Green Party’s Jill Stein winning the presidency, and Jill Stein happens to be an incredible candidate, unlike Fiorina. Fiorina’s pandering is a Hail Mary pass to win big points at the Iowa Caucus in order to bolster her struggling campaign, nothing more.
But the move cheapens her enormously, and not only do Iowans see that, all of America does. Talk about a backfire. Check out some of the responses Fiorina’s received via Twitter since Friday.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich’s top strategist Jai Chabria tweeted the image of a newsboy hocking a paper with, “PANDER HERE! GET YOUR PANDER HERE!” in response.
.@CarlyFiorina pic.twitter.com/MRnIjSUdbk
— Jai Chabria (@jchabria) January 1, 2016
Others tweeted the following responses:
Spineless pandering at its worst, Fiorina goes against her alma mater to cheer for Iowa. Iowans will see thru this. pic.twitter.com/HPR5fzh0Ev
— Carter ? Hall (@CarterHall_) January 1, 2016
I thought farmer-pandering was the worst pandering. I was wrong. https://t.co/wTt5SrMGhm
— Nick Confessore (@nickconfessore) January 1, 2016
https://twitter.com/brianjameswalsh/status/683002724179283968
https://twitter.com/DianneG/status/683001478341128194
"I was going to vote for Ted Cruz, but this changes everything!" – 30,000 Iowa Republicans probably https://t.co/AvzDfHY7rR
— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) January 1, 2016
When it all turned around for President Fiorina https://t.co/qd37x853qX
— Alex Konrad (@alexrkonrad) January 1, 2016
@CarlyFiorina This is expert-level pandering. Very competent. I expect nothing less from you!
— WomenForUncleJimmy (@jneutron1969) January 1, 2016
Carly Fiorina saying she supports the Hawkeyes to win votes in Iowa is almost vomit inducing.
— pet rock (@JacobPomroy) January 1, 2016
"Pander, pander, pander, pander." – Carly Fiorina https://t.co/xxymJSNGti
— JOSHWER (@jlattire) January 1, 2016
Fiorina proving that all people running for president are bought by the highest bidder. https://t.co/LRS6qZgUkA
— Pete (@PeteXU) January 1, 2016
Former congressman, John Dingell (D-Mich.) tweeted:
I just groaned so hard I may have pulled a muscle. https://t.co/R1cpGE8zGY
— John Dingell (@JohnDingell) January 1, 2016
None of that stopped Fiorina from doubling-down and standing by her tweet, however. Instead, as of Sunday, she’s now claiming the tweet was merely “tongue-in-cheek,” stating that Iowans know “my heart was torn” on the matter.
What Fiorina and her campaign fails to understand even now is that not only do Iowans recognize that her heart was the furthest thing from “torn” over the issue, so does the rest of America, and what may hurt her most of all, sadly, is not her false campaigning, but the fact that her tweet shows she may not care for football sincerely at all.
When the Iowa Caucus finally rolls around next month, Fiorina will see just how much her pandering gained her. It doesn’t take a loan shark to see the odds there.
Featured image by Gage Skidmore via Flickr.
