Reynolds: Carly Fiorina, the other woman Hillary Clinton isn't America's only option for our first woman president.

Glenn Harlan Reynolds | USA TODAY

Hillary Clinton is fond of saying that if she’s elected, she’ll be the first woman president. But there’s someone else who can say that as well. Her name is Carly Fiorina, and she’s running for the Republican presidential nomination. With her history as a high-powered CEO (at Hewlett-Packard) and with cheeky videos (at BuzzFeed), Fiorina is in it to win it, just like Clinton. But because she’s not as well known as Clinton, I asked her a few questions:

1. Hillary is talking about the middle class. What's the difference between your program and hers?

CF: "We help the middle class when we unburden them from the very policies that Hillary Clinton would double down on. She champions Big Government, which we know enables crony capitalism and exacerbates inequality. If you are wealthy, powerful and well-connected, you can handle Big Government. If you are small and powerless, you are getting crushed by things like our colossal, 70,000-page tax code. I have advocated for rolling back regulations, simplifying the tax code and moving to zero-based budgeting — policies that will support small businesses and raise up the middle class."

2. You said last week that Donald Trump has tapped into a general anger at the establishment. Why are people angry, and what's your answer?

CF: "People are angry that things as common sense as securing the border and eliminating sanctuary cities are being framed as extreme views. They are tired of empty rhetoric without action, and they are hungry for a leader from outside the professional political class. I think we need a real plan, which is why I have offered a much more specific approach to securing the border, fixing the legal immigration system and addressing illegal immigration."

3. Like Hillary, you're a female candidate. Like Trump, you're coming from a private sector background. What distinguishes you from each of them?

CF: "I come from a world where accountability and accomplishments matter, and where titles and rhetoric take a back seat to results. Those in the professional political class come from a world of bickering and posturing, where they spend more time worrying about protecting their position and power than doing the work of the American people. If Americans want the status quo to change, it is time to reach outside of the industry intent on preserving it."

4. What would you do about the threats of Iran and the terrorist organization Islamic State?

CF: "As CEO of Hewlett-Packard, chair of the CIA’s External Advisory Board and adviser to several secretaries of Defense, I have negotiated many deals. So I know that President Obama broke all of the rules of good negotiating and, as a consequence, he achieved none of his stated goals. As president, I would roll back the deal with Iran and restore our trusted friendship with Israel.

"Our allies in the Middle East know that the Islamic State is their fight — and they have asked for very specific things to help push back against ISIL. The Egyptians have asked for intelligence and the Jordanians for bombs and materiel. We must give our allies the help they need to confront and defeat this evil."

5. What's the most important issue that's not being talked about so far in this campaign?

CF: "People are tired of the status quo. You see that in various movements in and out of our party, but most candidates are offering hollow rhetoric, not specific solutions. We must first do two very specific things: We must simplify our 70,000-page tax code, and we must move to zero-based budgeting. We have runaway spending because we view smaller funding increases as budget cuts. Zero-based budgeting would fix that, forcing every agency to justify every dollar. When Hillary Clinton talks about adding more restrictions and complexity to our financial system, as she did in her economic policy speech, it shows how clueless she is about how the economy actually works."

Voters looking for a female president will have a stark choice between Hillary Clinton, a Democrats’ Democrat with a history of public-sector involvement, and Carly Fiorina, a Silicon Valley Republican. And voters willing to entertain a broader range of choices will still find the contrast between them instructive. Expect to hear more from Carly — and, of course, Hillary — in the weeks and months to come.

Glenn Harlan Reynolds, a University of Tennessee law professor, is the author of The New School: How the Information Age Will Save American Education from Itself.

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