Fiorina tries, fails to capture female vote

The republican candidates for the 2016 presidential race met for the third GOP debate Wednesday. The entire night consisted of tearing each other apart and diverting from important issues. 

While most candidates attempted to distract viewers with outlandish rants about anything but the topic, a few, in the heat of the moment, made entirely non-factual claims in an attempt to elevate their standing with voters.

Carly Fiorina, the only woman candidate running for the republican ballot, attempted to woo female supporters by showcasing her 100-percent-believable, in-no-way-a-recent-development-to-gain-votes, sincere support for women everywhere. 

Unfortunately, she felt the best way to accomplish this would be to resort to arguably the most anti-feministic tactic: attacking other women. Fiorina ruthlessly criticized Hillary Clinton. 

“It is the height of hypocrisy for Mrs. Clinton to talk about being the first woman president, when every single policy she espouses and every single policy of President Obama has been demonstratively bad for women,” she said. 

Not only did Fiorina make this extremely bold claim, she used false evidence to back it up. She claimed “92 percent of the jobs lost during Barack Obama’s first term belonged to women.” 

With that statement, Fiorina lost any chance at being taken seriously in this election.

Our country entered a recession in 2007. Obama did not take office until 2009. It would be foolish to blame an official for issues he or she inherited from a predecessor. Yes, the first few months of Obama’s administration saw a decline in jobs for both men and women. 

But it did not take long for that to change. According to politifact.com, “Government data show(s) an increase of 416,000 working women between January 2009 and January 2013. Total employment also rose by 1.3 million. So more women actually were working at the end of Obama’s first term compared with the day he first took office.”

Fiorina is completely entitled to resent our President and criticize his actions. She can dislike her contenders for office and condemn their policies all day long. But fabricating truths to appear as if she is a beacon of hope for the women in this country is disgusting.

Fiorina, I advise you to take a page from the books of women like Gloria Steinem and Malala Yousafzai. When these women saw inequality in the world, they sought to fix it not by fabricating truths or tearing down other members of their sex, but by working diligently to make a positive change in society. 

Would having a woman as president be amazing? Of course. But are women in this country going to vote for someone just because they rock a pencil skirt and preach empty promises of equality for all? Absolutely not. 

Give us a candidate who truly plans to fight for equal rights across the board and women will be rushing to the polls. Until then, focus on finding real solutions to the problems our country faces and desist this ridiculous and futile attempt to leap ahead in the polls. 

 

Breanne Williams is a junior majoring in mass communications.