Former Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina told Connecticut Republicans Tuesday that this November’s election is the GOP’s best chance to “dissolve power from the few and put it back into the hands of the people.”
As Republicans, “we must be the party that stands for the people,’’ Fiorina told hundreds of GOP faithful who jammed the 2016 Prescott Bush Awards Dinner at the Hilton Stamford Hotel & Executive Meeting Center in Stamford.
Fiorina, 61, the main speaker at the dinner, was a candidate in the 2016 Republican presidential race, but dropped out after finishing far back in the pack in the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary.
She was, for less than a week, the vice-presidential candidate for Texas Senator Ted Cruz’s failed presidential run.
Cruz got 11.71 percent of the vote in the April 26 Connecticut Republican presidential primary, losing badly to Donald Trump, who got 57.8 percent of the vote.
Fiorina is known primarily for her tenure as CEO of Hewlett-Packard (HP) said nothing about the only Republican presidential candidate in the race, during her address Tuesday. She focused squarely on Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton.
Speaking of Clinton, Fiorina told the laughing audience that the three most popular Twitter slogans about Clinton’s presidential campaign that she read today, were: “It’s my turn, damnit’’; “4 out of 10 people find me tolerable’’; and, “Experience that you cannot trust.’’
But turning serious, she added: “She (Clinton) has traded on her husband’s fame. She (Clinton) is the ultimate insider.’’
Referring to continuing questions over Clinton’s role in the attack of a United States outpost in Benghazi, Libya in September, 2012 that left four Americans dead, Fiorina said: “She is far more qualified for the Big House than the White House.’’
But Fiorina spent the majority of her speech imploring Connecticut Republicans to spend the time between now and November pushing the message of giving government back to the people.
“My message was that we have to take our country back from the elite,’’ she continued. “What I heard was a feeling of powerlessness from people I talked to over their own lives. Feeling powerless is not part of our DNA. People are angry, fed up, frustrated, apathetic, afraid.’’
Fiorina continued: “When is it that we lost that sense of opportunity that has powered this nation? Eighty percent of the American people now feel that the American government is incompetent and corrupt. It is Democrats, Republicans, Independent – it is a bipartisan angst that is gripping our nation.’’
She concluded by telling her audience: “This election, like every election, is about power. We have to put our faith in the system that our founders created. It is the citizens’ government.’’
The end of her speech was met by a standing ovation.
Fiorina wasn’t the only Republican to receive a rousing reception at the dinner.
Nicholas Stone, political director of the Connecticut Republican Party, told the audience: “This is a good year to be a Republican in Connecticut. We’ve had a tough go, but what Trump is talking about is a message of economic hope.’’
“We are going to win, nationally, and in Connecticut,’’ said Stone, whose comments were met by loud applause from his fellow Republicans.
JR Romano, chairman of the Connecticut Republican Party, told the gathering that they’ve seen an increase in monthly donations and an increase in people registering with the party.
“This is our year,’’ said Romano.
