“Happy Hour” debate leaves Fiorina smiling

Thus far, most pundits have dismissed Carly Fiorina, assuming she was laying the framework for a cabinet position or that she was the GOP’s way of throwing barbs at Hillary. Thursday evening, that entire outlook changed.

The “Happy Hour” debate was supposed to be the JV exhibition game of GOP presidential candidates. It was soon apparent that Fiorina was not about to use that as an excuse. She was poised, collected and informative all while taking a stand and clearly laying out her platform.

While Fiorina was by far the best communicator of the night, she did come out swinging. One of her first comments was a dig at Donald Trump’s connection to the Clinton dynasty.

“I didn’t get a phone call from Bill Clinton before I jumped in the race,” she said. “Did any of you guys get a phone call from Bill Clinton? I didn’t.”

She was also not shy on attacking Hillary’s questionable transparency track record.

“Hillary Clinton lies about Benghazi, she lies about emails,” said Fiorina. “2016 is going to be a fight between conservatism and a Democratic party that is undermining the very character of this nation.”

Gov. Rick Perry even gave a nod to Fiorina as better then Secretary of State John Kerry for the task of negotiating the Iran Nuclear Deal. But Fiorina made it clear her sights are set on negotiating from the Oval Office, and her feelings on the Iran Nuclear Deal were replayed during the primetime debate stating that President Obama “broke every rule of negotiation” in finalizing the deal.

Post-debate, Fiorina was the most googled candidate, a position previously held by Donald Trump.

Most analysts view Carly Fiorina as the clear winner. When asked her thoughts, she smiled and suggested she’d be happy to “let others decide.”