On her Facebook page, Palin portrayed Fiorina as a "common sense conservative" and as an individual who can be trusted "to do the right thing for America’s economy". However, it is important to note that Fiorina believes in expanding the H1-B visa program "if we want our information technology industry to be the most competitive in the world". That doesn't quite sound like a common sense conservative. Palin also praises for Fiorina for her knowledge of "how to really incentivize job creation". Palin, of course, fails to acknowledge Fiorina's comments regarding her dismissal of nearly 18,000 employees during Fiorina's tenure as CEO of Hewlett-Packard: "I would have done them all faster. Every person that I've asked to leave, whether it's been clear publicly or not, I would have done faster."
Palin continued on Facebook by stating Fiorina "has an understanding that is sorely lacking in [the District of Columbia]". Unfortunately that understanding does not apply to the political process. The "Los Angeles Times" reported that Fiorina has failed to vote in seventy-five percent of all California state elections since 2000, including all gubernatorial elections and presidential primaries. Her excuse? "For many years I felt disconnected from the decisions made in Washington and, to be honest, really didn't think my vote mattered because I didn't have a direct line of sight from my vote to a result." Let me get this right. Fiorina didn't think that her vote mattered despite the fact that, in 2000, she was a 46-year-old grown woman serving as the CEO of one of the largest corporations in the world? With that being said, Hewlett-Packard spent $4.7 million to lobby Congress and donated more than $390,000 to political candidates through the company's political action committee during her tenure as CEO. In addition, Fiorina and her husband have personally contributed more than $100,000 in political donations since 2000.
And since Palin commends Fiorina for her ability to lead "with distinction" and show "real leadership" as the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, let's take a closer look at how Fiorina's reign ended. The company's board of directors forced Fiorina to resign after numerous poor business decisions regarding the company, its various divisions and the acquisition of Compaq, as well as the resulting effect on stock value. Following her resignation, "InfoWorld" magazine ranked Fiorina sixth on the publication's list of "Technology's All Time Top 25 Flops", which primarily consisted of failed products and ideas. Fiorina was also included on "Conde Nast Portfolio" magazine's list of the twenty "Worst American CEOs of All Time".
In December 2007, Fiorina was selected as the Chairperson of Victory 2008, a group created by the Republican National Committee to, among other things, raise money for the presidential campaign of Sen. John McCain (R-AZ). Fiorina was also named in March 2008 as an advisor to McCain's campaign on economic and business issues. During her brief stint in both roles, Fiorina consistently delivered incorrect and misleading statements regarding McCain's stance on various topics. In addition, when she appeared on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" in April 2008, Fiorina uttered the following ridiculous comments on the recent economic crisis: "There's no question that the Iraq War is costing us a lot of money. But it's also the case that the housing crisis has nothing to do with the Iraq War. High fuel prices have nothing to do with the Iraq War, per se. And high food prices, in particular, have nothing to do with the Iraq War. It's not fair to try and make the Iraq War the cause of our current economic difficulties."
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