Inside the Beltway: Carly Fiorina: The insider’s outsider

NEWS AND OPINION:

Hillary Rodham Clinton herself attempted to soak in a little outsider glory during a town hall meeting in New Hampshire on Monday, advising her audience, “Who could be more of an outsider than a woman president?” It’s a remark she’s made more than once on the campaign trail.

But she now has some stark new competition for the role. Mrs. Clinton’s main rival is outpolling her in a pivotal state: Republican hopeful Carly Fiorina has garnered 52 percent of the vote among likely Iowa voters, compared to 38 percent who back Mrs. Clinton, according to a new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll. A similar poll found Ms. Fiorina, a former high-tech executive, in second place behind Donald Trump among New Hampshire voters, behind by a mere 5 percentage points.

The mainstream media are paying attention: She is now the second-most-covered GOP candidate, according to Rich Noyes, a senior analyst at the Media Research Center. Though Mr. Trump still mesmerizes the networks, ABC, NBC and CBS “have significantly ramped up their coverage” of Ms. Fiorina, the analyst says.

“Carly Fiorina is looking like the insider’s outsider candidate. Her Washington credentials have won her fans inside the Beltway, even as she seeks the nomination with a strategy that makes the GOP establishment a frequent punching bag,” says Ben Brody, a contributor to Bloomberg Politics.

She’s “an outsider with insider knowledge,” Rep. Peter T. King told Mr. Brody. The New York Republican revealed he often texts Ms. Fiorina and is thinking of endorsing her. “I think she has a real potential to unite the party and also be a strong national candidate,” the lawmaker notes.

The outsider political brand, meanwhile, is growing. If Mrs. Clinton rates as one, then that makes four outsiders tearing up the campaign trail, counting Mr. Trump, Ben Carson and Ms. Fiorina. Weary voters say the fact that no member of this Republican triumvirate has ever held office is considerably appealing. And Mrs. Clinton — former first lady, U.S. senator and secretary of state? Outsider status could very well be in the eye of the beholder.

MESSAGE TO THE GOP: GO FOR IT

Congressional Republicans now seek to use fast-track reconciliation to approve legislation to defund Planned Parenthood; the process can whisk legislation along with a simple majority, and it can’t be filibustered. Republicans have got support for the tactic from 38 pro-life groups who sent an open letter to Senate Budget Committee Chairman Sen. Michael B. Enzi and House Committee on the Budget Chairman Tom Price. It reads in part:

“Regardless of whether Americans identify as pro-life or pro-choice, we should all be able to agree that taxpayer dollars should not be subsidizing an already cash-flush industry. Instead, these tax dollars would be put to better use at local community health centers, which provide all the same health services Planned Parenthood does (and usually more), but do not abort the lives of unborn children and callously harvest their body parts for profit,” the coalition writes.

Among the signers: Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser; Family Research Council President Tony Perkins; Concerned Women for America President Penny Nance; Priests for Life director Father Frank Pavone; Tea Party Nation founder Judson Phillips; and Steven Ertelt, editor of LifeNews.com.

“Planned Parenthood is the nation’s primary abortion provider, receiving almost half of its annual revenue from our taxpayer dollars. With federally qualified health centers outnumbering the Planned Parenthood clinics by 20 to 1, and providing much more in the way of services, including well child exams, immunizations, mammograms, etc., there is no question that taxpayer dollars should be redirected to better options as soon as possible,” says Jeanne Mancini, president of the March for Life Education and Defense Fund.

AND IN SUMMATION …

“Just three years ago, President Obama famously ridiculed GOP opponent Mitt Romney’s statement that Russia remained America’s main geopolitical foe by taunting: ’The 1980s are calling to ask for their foreign policy back.’ Four years before that, Obama stood at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate to declare that once he became president, all people would join him around a global campfire, hold hands and put an end to the world’s evils and miseries. Well, seven years into Obama’s presidency, the promised worldwide Kumbaya is instead global chaos — caused in large measure by his willful retreat from America’s position of leadership. Washington’s traditional allies increasingly feel abandoned, its enemies emboldened. The United States isn’t even leading from behind — it’s cowering in weakness.”

— the New York Post, in an editorial published Monday.

AND THE WINNER IS …

This is a cheerful item in an otherwise-cranky week on Capitol Hill. The first-ever Congressional Prize Caucus more or less rockets to life Tuesday, steered by cordial co-chairs Illinois Reps. Randy Hultgren, Republican, and Daniel Lipinski, Democrat. They intend to support challenges that offer incentives to those who offer innovative solutions to big challenges on this planet and beyond. Attending the cocktail get-together to celebrate: big thinkers from the XPRIZE Foundation, USAID and NASA, along with winning competitive teams who answered a challenge.

“I have been a firm believer in enlisting the private sector to innovate in all areas of discovery, such as space exploration and health care. Prize competitions have been an innovative way to spur research and excitement around the big issues that our nation is facing,” says Mr. Hultgren. “Many private foundations have been able to tackle problems in ways the government can’t always do. Instead of managing various research portfolios and grants, they just ask for results. The government can also learn a lot from these competitions and share best practices. I think prize competitions should at least be a small portion of any governmental R&D program.”

SPONTANEOUS HILLARY: THE REVIEWS ARE IN

Yes, yes, Democratic front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton appeared on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live,” and broadcasters could not lend enough choreographed praise, says Scott Whitlock, a Newsbusters.org analyst who tracked the follow-up coverage of Mrs. Clinton’s cameo role as a bartender.

“ABC and NBC on Sunday and Monday fawned over the ’hilarious,’ ’spontaneous’ Hillary Clinton appearance,” Mr. Whitlock notes, citing, among others, “Good Morning America”’s Cecilia Vega, who cheered, ’It is the new, spontaneous Hillary Clinton who hopes to be laughing all the way to the White House.’”

The word “spontaneous” appeared to be on the verge of combustion in Mrs. Clinton’s aftermath.

“The key talking point appears to be the word ’spontaneous,’” Mr. Whitlock affirms, noting that ABC reporter Mary Bruce declared: “This is Hillary Clinton 2.0: the candidate trying to show she’s funny, authentic and spontaneous.”

POLL DU JOUR

• 62 percent of Americans hope the next speaker of the House “compromises to get things done”; 45 percent of Republicans, 61 percent of independents and 77 percent of Democrats agree.

• 44 percent overall are unsure what House Speaker John A. Boehner’s impending resignation from Congress means; 36 percent of Republicans, 50 percent of independents and 40 percent of Democrats agree.

• 43 percent overall say it’s a “good thing” he is leaving; 54 percent of Republicans, 38 percent of independents and 42 percent of Democrats agree.

• 38 percent of Americans hope the next speaker “sticks to their principles no matter what”; 55 percent of Republicans, 39 percent of independents and 23 percent of Democrats agree.

• 13 percent overall say it’s a “bad thing” Mr. Boehner is leaving; 10 percent of Republicans, 12 percent of independents and 18 percent of Democrats agree.

Source: A YouGov poll of 1,981 U.S. adults conducted Sept. 25-29.

Cranky admonitions, cautious accolades to jharper@washingtontimes.com