2016 Fiorina on the bubble The only woman in the GOP field may miss the first debate, but believes her voice will be heard.

LAS VEGAS — When Carly Fiorina took the stage here Saturday night, she bathed in warm applause from the 200 or so attendees of the annual Mavericks PAC conference and relished her status as the only woman seeking the GOP presidential nomination.

“Go ahead, admit it,” she said to the 20- and 30-something conservatives seated in the ballroom as the cheering quieted down. “You want to see me debate Hillary Clinton in the general election.”


But there was no getting around the glaring subtext of that opening line: The woman hoping to capitalize on her unique ability to nullify the likely Democratic nominee’s gender advantage in a debate next year might not even make the first Republican primary debate in less than three weeks.

Fox News Channel, which is hosting the Aug. 6 forum in Cleveland, is taking the top 10 candidates based on an average of national polls. Fiorina, for the moment, is polling 14th out of 15 officially declared candidates.

“Everybody’s sort of fixated on this first debate and I’ve been honest, I’d love to be on that first debate stage and I’m working really hard to get there. I think I will be,” Fiorina said in an interview following her 45 minutes on stage. “If I’m not, it’s not the end of the world, it’s not the end of the campaign.”

Despite her low standing nationally, Fiorina has shown an ability to connect in New Hampshire, where she’s fifth in the most recent poll of the Republican field on the strength of a commitment to retail politics in the state.

Early state polls, however, don’t figure into the criteria for participation in the first debate; and in a race dominated by national figures and personalities like Donald Trump, whose bull in a China shop routine has left almost no media oxygen for other candidates in recent weeks. Fiorina’s methodical approach — however warmly she’s been received in New Hampshire — may not be enough for her to break through.

At this point, she says, there’s still time — more than six months, in fact, until primary voting begins.

“I think it will work itself out,” she said. “I think people, given enough time and enough information, kind of sort it out. So now we need to make sure they have enough time and enough information.”

Fiorina said voters got important information about Trump on Saturday, when he disparaged Sen. John McCain by questioning whether the Vietnam veteran who spent six years in a North Vietnamese prison was truly a war hero — and drew the loudest, more unrestrained chorus of criticism from his Republican rivals to date.

“GOP voters deserve better than outrageous statements & personal attacks,” Fiorina tweeted earlier Saturday. Rick Perry and Lindsey Graham, both military veterans (and also on the debate bubble), went even harder at Trump, calling for the bombastic billionaire to quit the race.

Trump’s sudden, unexpected surge has become an issue for the GOP field from top to bottom and for a Republican Party hoping to broaden its appeal. It’s undeniable that his personal celebrity and name ID is unmatched, and that there is a deep disaffection among some conservatives to whom his combative criticism — of immigrants, President Barack Obama, other more measured Republicans — is viscerally satisfying and resonant.

Fiorina, on the other hand, has no national profile and no real fundraising network to speak of. Unwilling to go practice Trump’s politics of grievance, Fiorina is left with little choice but to keep plodding away and hoping that this moment, Trump’s, gives way to her own.

“In New Hampshire, when we started, May 4, less than 4 percent of New Hampshire voters had ever heard my name — less than four percent — and we’re now tied for number four in the polls,” she said. “It takes enormous effort to get out there and go everywhere possible so that the message gets out.”

“I’m pleased with the progress we’re making in terms of getting out and getting known. I’m pleased with the progress we’re making in terms of building donor files and email lists, but we’re going to build it more slowly than others. As I’ve said all along, I’m not going to raise as much money as everybody else, not at first, but on the other hand, the election isn’t tomorrow.”

When she concluded her time on stage Saturday night, she asked the young conservatives in the room, who heard from Jeb Bush on Friday night, not to be swayed by her long-shot status but to help her overcome it.

“As a candidate who is not a professional politician, I need more help and more support than lots of others,” she told them. “I don’t have years of email lists; I don’t have years of donor lists, so I would really appreciate your consideration to help me and to support me. I think our nation is at a critical time and I think we do need someone different now.

“I think we need someone different to win in 2016 and we must win.”

Fiorina did not receive quite the same hero’s welcome that Mav PAC attendees lavished on Bush, whose two sons helped found the group to maintain their network of young donors after his brother’s 2004 presidential campaign. But Jay Ziedman, a Mav PAC co-chairman from Houston, feels strongly that serious candidates like Fiorina who make the effort to speak to groups like his, should have a place on the debate stage.

“Trump’s running a reality show and, unfortunately, that’s going to get him on the stage, whereas she should be up there instead of him,” Ziedman said.

“He’s making a mockery and a joke of running for the presidency of the United States, when there’s people like Carly Fiorina putting in the time, building their own donor base, building their own list, and really networking. Trump’s not raising money, he’s not building support from grassroots conservatives — he’s just out there running his mouth. It’s disgusting.”