Interview With Carly Fiorina

C.F.: Yeah, but look, now I'm going to say what I really believe, but you may interpret it as a surrogate remark. It's the reason why I became a surrogate. John McCain actually does do what he thinks is right, even when it's to his political peril. I can remember being asked to go into Iowa in December, just before the caucuses, and just after he'd announced his opposition to ethanol subsidies. He knew what that would do to him. But he doesn't believe in them. And he has a track record to back it. So I think that his strident conviction that pork-barrel spending is wrong is backed up by a 20-year record. He's never asked for an earmark in 20 years—not once. There is no other member of Congress, Democratic or Republican, who has that record. Only John McCain has that record. Nobody else has come close.

L.G.: Why do you think Obama is out-raising McCain, not only on Wall Street but in Silicon Valley?

C.F.: Well, it's interesting. The last set of numbers that came out, he isn't out-raising McCain anymore. So for a long time, absolutely right, he was out-raising him in places like New York and Silicon Valley, and he may still be in those two particular locales. So I'm not trying to avoid your question, I'll come back to it. But on the other hand, if you look at the numbers that just got published for Obama and McCain for this past month, they're dead even.

L.G.: Because I was just looking over a piece in the Daily News suggesting that, for instance, on Wall Street, McCain raised something like $5 million within a certain period and Obama raised over $8 million in the same period.

C.F.: Yeah, from the trend looking backward you are correct. As a business person, I tend to look forward. And if you look at the trends over the last, call it three months, what you see is McCain's money trending upward, Obama's take trending downward, and in the month of June, they crossed.

L.G.: If we're talking about fundraising, it looks like the R.N.C. [Republican National Committee] is doing pretty well. In contrast to the D.N.C., particularly.

C.F: That's right, the R.N.C. is doing very well. The R.N.C. is out-raising the D.N.C. eight to one. All that money matters, it counts. Now that Barack Obama has made a decision to forgo public financing, he has to raise more money in each of the subsequent four months than he's ever raised before.

L.G.: Don't you think, as someone who is used to looking forward and looking at numbers and dealing with money, that Obama's decision was entirely rational and understandable?

C.F.: Well, if I set aside the fact that he absolutely changed his position. I find it-"disingenuous" is a kind word.

L.G.: Take off that surrogate hat now!

C.F.: No, no, this is not a surrogate hat. I would've found it much more acceptable had Barack Obama come forward and said, "You know what? I'm going to change my mind and I'm going to change my mind because it's to my advantage to change my mind. I've raised a lot of money, and I want to spend a lot of money." But what he did instead was say, the reason why I'm changing my mind is—

L.G.: Because "the system is broken."

C.F.: Correct. I mean, please, that to me was disingenuous. I know why he changed his mind. He changed his mind because he's raised so much money and he wants to spend a lot of money. My only point is, having made that decision, he has to raise much more money in the next four months than in any of the previous months. It's a tall order. I think there's clearly been a downside to his credibility in terms of how he explained it. I guess I would just say, they must have incredible confidence in their ability to raise money, and from what I've seen over last couple months, I don't know where that confidence comes from.

L.G.: Let's switch gears here. Do you still root for Hewlett-Packard?

C.F.: Of course. I still own their products.

L.G.: Did you enjoy the ride back up on the stock?

C.F.: Oh, well I knew the ride was coming.

L.G.: So you held on, obviously didn't get rid of your stock at whatever it was, $12, when you were fired.

C.F.: No, absolutely not, and it wasn't $12 then. It was twice that. [These days Hewlett is trading at around $43.] You know, I knew what was coming at Hewlett-Packard. My choices and my leadership had been completely validated by what happened from the moment I left. And by the way, the best legacy of a leader is what happens after they go. That's how you know the kind of foundation they put in place. So I still root for them. I'm very proud of them. I have a lot of friends there, and I'm extraordinarily pleased.

L.G.: Why is it that a nice person like you is still­-

C.F.: Oh God, I've been through that so many times. Read my book.

L.G.: You saw this New York Times piece recently where Jeffrey Sonnenfeld at the Yale School of Management called you a "street bully."

C.F.: Yeah, well, Jeffrey Sonnenfeld is someone I've never met. I've never talked with him. That's been his point of view for eight years, and he's never changed. I have no idea why he thinks that. I can just tell you that would've been his quote in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004, and now, 2008. So I'm not terribly concerned what Jeffrey Sonnenfeld thinks because I don't think he's influenced by the facts here, and I don't know what his ax is to grind.