"[14] On March 29, 2015, Fiorina told Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace there was a "higher than 90 percent" chance that she would enter the race to be the Republican Party nominee in the 2016 presidential election.

[15] In the weeks leading up to her campaign announcement, Fiorina made numerous strategic appearances in the key battleground states of Iowa and New Hampshire.

[16] Fiorina announced her candidacy on May 4, 2015, via an online video posted by her campaign, followed by appearances on ABC's Good Morning America[5][17] and The Kelly File.

[24] Other discussions focused on her well-documented public record,[27] including coverage of risky vendor financing programs that Fiorina was said to have supported during her time as Lucent's president of consumer products.

[41] Sonnenfeld wrote back in Politico magazine that problems with Fiorina's leadership style were what caused HP to lose half its value during her tenure.

He said she does not admit mistakes and thus does not learn from them, that she manipulates statistics, that she makes poor executive decisions, and that she turns to ad hominem attacks when others oppose her plans.

"[47] The Nation commented, "With so-called women's issues poised to play an unprecedented role in the upcoming election, Republicans need someone who can troll Hillary Clinton without seeming sexist.

[62] On every national poll that was released after the first debate held on August 6, 2015, all showed Fiorina to be firmly within the top ten of Republican candidates.

[66] Fiorina's appearance on September 16, 2015, in the second debate at the Reagan Presidential Library was generally seen by the press as improving her standing in the Republican field.

[67] The Washington Post commented on how what they described as her "polished showing" and "widely praised performance" in the second televised Republican debate, "lit up social media and cable news".

[68] Time magazine called her performance a "strong showing" in which "Fiorina laid out detailed foreign policy visions, made an impassioned speech against Planned Parenthood and sparred with Donald Trump...."[69] For her own part, Fiorina commenting to ABC's Good Morning America about her performance, said: "When I went into the debate, almost half the audience didn't know my name, and I introduced myself successfully.

"[72] PolitiFact chief editor Angie Drobnic Holan mentioned this factor in a December 2015 comparison of the presidential candidates with regard to their truthfulness.

[83] She has expressed support for legislation to ban abortions 20 weeks after fertilization, with an exception for cases of rape, incest, or danger to the life of the mother.

[86] Fiorina supports eliminating federal funding for Planned Parenthood, the largest single provider of abortions in the United States, performing over 300,000 per year.

[91] Fiorina's claim made it sound as if there is actual footage of Planned Parenthood examining an aborted fetus whose heart is still beating, which was false.

"[91] In a February 2015 speech, Fiorina acknowledged the scientific consensus that climate change is real and caused by human activity,[84] but remained doubtful that government can affect the issue[84][92] and has "implied that targeting the coal industry will not solve the problem".

[96][97] According to PBS, "In a position paper while running for the U.S. Senate in California, Fiorina strongly advocated for metric-based accountability in schools.

"[98] Fiorina stated at the 2015 Conservative Political Action Conference that President Obama's proposal for free community college was intended "to distract us from the fact that we have too many failing high schools".

[99] At a May 2015 event, Fiorina asserted that the federal government "in the last several years under the Obama administration has nationalized the student loan industry".

[100] The Annenberg Public Policy Center's FactCheck.org stated that "Fiorina gave a misleading description" since "private and federal student loans are available now, just as they were in the past.

"[106] Fiorina has said that if president, she would "stand up and arm Ukraine" and conduct more aggressive military exercises in the Baltic nations to "send a very clear message to Vladimir Putin.

"[103] Fiorina expressed for a military building, calling specifically for an additional "50 Army brigades, 36 Marine battalions, between 300 and 350 naval ships, and an upgrade of 'every leg of the nuclear triad.

'"[111] This proposed military buildup would be an increase of more than US$500 billion (excluding a nuclear arsenal overhaul, which would cost some additional sum of money) over existing planned defense spending of US$5 trillion over the next decade.

[113] In September 2015, Fiorina "offered a vigorous defense of CIA waterboarding," a tactic used by the United States during the George W. Bush-era War on Terror.

[118] In California, Fiorina supported the DREAM Act, which would allow children brought to the U.S. by their parents when they were under the age of 16 to secure permanent U.S. residency and a path to citizenship if they graduate from college or serve in the armed forces.

I believe that responsibility should have remained with states and voters where this conversation has continued in churches, town halls and living rooms around the country.

"[133] In May 2015, however, she said that she hoped that the nation could support the Supreme Court's decision to legalize same-sex marriage and, at the same time, respect individual consciences.

[136][137] Fiorina has said that the private sector should make these decisions, pointing out that HP, while she was CEO, offered paid maternity leave voluntarily, and that companies such as Netflix have done the same.

"[92] Fiorina opposes net neutrality rules adopted by the Federal Communications Commission and has said she would "roll back" that policy, because "Regulation over innovation is a really bad role for government.

"[142] Glenn Kessler of The Washington Post "Fact Checker" column gave this statement three out of four Pinocchios, finding that "Important parts of the economy have been deregulated in recent decades.