If there’s one certainty for this Republican primary season, it’s that Republican voters are fed up with the establishment.
The most obvious example is the popularity of Donald Trump. But he’s not the only outsider running in the primary and making an impression on voters. Carly Fiorina and Ben Carson are both touting their respective non-politician status and gaining significant numbers in the polls.
However, there is one significant difference between Trump and the other two so-called outsiders in the race: Fiorina and Carson aren’t despised by the majority of conservative media.
In fact, when it comes to Fiorina, she’s downright adored by right-leaning journalists and pundits. Several Fox News personalities gushed over the former Hewlett-Packard CEO’s performance in last week’s debate. National Review wrote that she has liberals genuinely worried, because she has “something fresh to say.” Townhall called her “awesome” for taking on the biased media.
Oddly enough though, these journalists and pundits love Fiorina for many of the same reasons that they hate Trump.
Let’s take one of Fiorina’s main draws right now: her zingers against Hillary Clinton. She is very good at zingers. At every campaign stop and during every press interview, the former HP exec manages to deliver a headline-worthy takedown of the Democratic frontrunner.
From Benghazi to Hillary’s creative handling of email records, Fiorina is able to conjure up a new, quick-witted line about Clinton that connects with the base and gets the Republican lady attention. One primary reason commentators on the right find this line of attack appealing is the obvious fact that the left can’t call Fiorina sexist for excoriating Hillary.
The same is definitely not the case for Trump. But both the mogul and the ex-tech exec find their appeal in their respective abilities to articulate talking points for the Twitter age. Granted, they both have a very different style when it comes to soundbites. Trump often goes below the belt; Fiorina keeps it PG.
Yet, each candidate is able to excite and connect with voters simply through the power of words — and both take on the power of political correctness.
Which naturally explains why both candidates stress style over substance.
Fiorina’s website is devoid of policy proposals. She mostly talks about herself and her career.
Trump has been castigated for having a campaign website devoid of policy proposals and which focused mainly on himself and his career. While Trump is routinely hit for never offering concrete policy solutions, Fiorina has yet to be criticized for engaging in exactly the same practice.
Both candidates realize personality trumps (pun possibly intended) policy in presidential elections and promote their leadership skills over wonkery. Fiorina comes from the business world and has never held political office. Same goes for Trump. That’s the reason many voters like both.
For years, conservatives have claimed they want business professionals instead of professional politicians to run for office. Now they get two for 2016, but pundits don’t like Trump’s business background very much. He is heavily criticized for having companies that filed for bankruptcy and for reportedly engaging in crony capitalism.
While Trump’s record as a businessman is — and should be — fair game for discussion, Fiorina’s equally controversial career has yet to be touched by the right-leaning media. So far, her unpopular management style and ranking as one of the “worst tech CEOs” has been able to slide by with her defense that “when you lead, you challenge the status quo.”
But that’s the gist of the difference between The Donald and Carly: right-leaning media love and promote Fiorina. For the same people, Trump ranks slightly below Barack Obama in hatred.
Perhaps the difference can be explained by Fiorina’s charismatic female presence and her entertaining quips about the much-hated Hillary. There’s a certain need for this kind of personality in conservative media, especially in light of the lack of women in the GOP field and Clinton’s heavy emphasis on gender issues.
Carly rides in with her buzzy quotes and her immunity to accusations of sexism and the pundits go nuts.
But while her numbers are going up and voters are liking what they’re hearing from her, it’s a good bet to say she won’t have anything touching Trump-mentum.
Trump is tapping into the populist rage that’s welling up in our country with his attacks on D.C., unrestricted immigration, bad trade deals and threats to national prestige. Fiorina is not tapping into this “torches and pitchforks” moment. While her quips make for good television and great clickbait, it’s not the material that would sway disaffected voters.
It’s also the material that doesn’t undermine the establishment right’s message, which explains why she gets more favorable coverage from right-leaning outlets.
However, her support from both the Republican and conservative establishment won’t help her anti-establishment bona fides among the angry base.
Trump, for better or for worse, is the populist firebrand on the right at the moment; Fiorina is not.