The Best Evidence Against McCain

The best reason to vote against John McCain isn’t Iraq. It’s not Bush. It’s not his age. It’s not even his party.

No, the best reason to vote against John McCain is this. His chief economic advisor is Carly Fiorina.

Fiorina’s record as a businesswoman makes George W. Bush’s stewardship of his office look slick by comparison.

Fiorina took one of the greatest companies in America, the crown jewel of Silicon Valley, the Hewlett-Packard Co., and within less than five years she brought it to its knees. She ignored its corporate culture, she made one of the dumbest deals in American business history (buying Compaq), she treated anyone who questioned her with contempt, and (worst of all) she lost money.

Then she blamed everyone but herself. Still does.

Sound familiar?

I don’t care whether it does or not. What I care about is John McCain’s
judgment in thinking Carly Fiorina can run a lemonade stand, let alone
the U.S. economy. Fiorina is the ultimate icon of the Forbes Myth, the
idea that business is all great men (and women) who bestride the world
like collossi, around whom all revolves.

Business isn’t like that. Never was. Only in the fevered imagination of
people whose view of life doesn’t extend beyond the Hudson River.
Business isn’t just about strategy. It’s about tackling. It’s
blocking-and-tackling, it’s manufacturing and marketing, it’s
organization. It’s hard work, the hardest work America offers, and the
most potentially rewarding.

We love to say of American capitalism that it rewards success and punishes failure. Where is Carly Fiorina’s punishment?

And again, what does it say about John McCain that he would choose this woman to represent him?