Megyn Kelly thinks Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina needs to do a better job personally connecting with voters – and “straight news anchor” Kelly did her part to help make that happen.
Kelly hosted Fiorina last night ostensibly to promote her jabs at competitors Donald Trump (not exactly a Kelly fave) and Dr. Ben Carson, for complaining that the upcoming CNBC Republican debate would be too long and would not let them make prepared statements. (Since then, CNBC has reportedly capitulated.)
Kelly halted Fiorina’s whacks at her rivals after about two minutes - in order to prod her to attack Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton instead. Referring to some comments Fiorina made about Clinton during the recent Democratic candidates’ debate, Kelly asked, “What specifically did you hear that you thought was a downright lie on her part?”
Once Fiorina answered, Kelly spent the next three and a half minutes making not-so-thinly-veiled suggestions as to how Fiorina should be a better candidate:
KELLY: Some have been critical of you and I confess that I made comments about this myself earlier this week about whether you need to be warmer in order to connect better with the voters. …I checked myself on that saying, Is this sexist? Would I say this about a man? And I tell you that I would.
I think any political candidate needs to connect with an audience. And we did a long bio on you when you launched your campaign. You have a wonderful family story and lots of love in your life and so on. Do you think that that is a fair criticism, that perhaps you could do a better job of connecting on a personal level with viewers and voters?
Fiorina replied that she tells “personal stories” every day on the campaign trail and “I think you’re wrong when you say I’m not connecting with voters.” Fiorina also said that when talking about ISIS or late-term abortion, “it’s inappropriate to smile.”
But Kelly was insistent. “Those are straw men,” she lectured. She showed on the screen a photo of Fiorina in the bathtub with her daughters. “A lot of us have seen this side of you but we’ve also seen is you’re slipping in the polls, even though you skyrocketed after the CNN debate.” Kelly even had a chart of Fiorina’s poll numbers at the ready that was displayed for the viewers. “Why do you think it is?” Kelly asked.
Fiorina seemed quite taken aback – as she should have been, in my opinion – and disputed Kelly’s premise. Fiorina said that she’s doing well in the polls that she thinks matter, the state polls, “where the primaries are going to be held.” She said she’s “very happy with where I am, I think we are connecting with voters and I think we’re gonna continue to rise in the polls as more and more Americans get to know who I am and what my story is and what I will do, most importantly, as president of the United States.”
But for good measure, Kelly said she’d post the “bio package that we did,” i.e., the one that showed Fiorina as so likable, on the show’s Facebook page.
Kelly likes to claim that she’s a “straight news anchor.” But what straight news anchor gives campaign tips to a presidential candidate? Answer: a Fox News anchor.
Watch Kelly play mother hen to Fiorina below, from the October 15 The Kelly File.
Originally I was going to write that I can’t find out how old BillO’s ex-wife was when they got married but, considering she gave birth to two children, one in 1998 and the other in 2003 (~2 and 7 years after the marriage), she’s got to be several years younger than BillO (giving birth after 40 is risky enough for most women, but having two children after 40, and 5 years apart really ups the risk—I’d guess she’s probably a decade younger, at least). But, after some sleuthing, I found out (courtesy of IMDb.com) that the former Mrs BillO was born in 1966—nearly 17 years her husband’s junior.
And according to IMDb.com’s page on Mackris (BillO’s former producer whom he sexually harassed), she was born in 1971 (BillO was born in 1949).
If BillO was ready to start up with a woman just 5 years younger than his (then) wife during the marriage, I can’t see that he’d want to have anything to do with a woman just 5 years younger than himself.