Carly for president?

I have just finished reading Carly Fiorina's memoir, "Tough Choices," which tells the story of this extraordinary woman's upbringing, education and career in the high-tech communications and computer industries. She is responsible for helping develop Lucent into the outstanding company it has become, and she spent six years as CEO and chairwoman of Hewlett-Packard, during which she skillfully managed the merger of HP and Compaq. This enormously complicated merger enabled both companies to achieve greater success in advancing computer technology and customer service.

After graduating from Stanford University, she entered UCLA law school, which she hated. Her father had wanted her to become a lawyer, but Carly had a mind of her own. She quit law school, got a Master of Business Administration at the University of Maryland and a Master of Science from MIT's Sloan School of Management. She had entered the world of business, which she found challenging and exhilarating. And in that challenging environment, she reached the top.

Carly is a woman with exceptional organizational talent, having mastered the corporate environment with great dexterity and an understanding of its many important facets: products, research and development, customers, competition, employees, managers, shareholders, banks and corporate culture. Her experience as the head of one of the great American computer companies, together with her intelligence, intellect, honesty and compassion for everyone involved in the life and progress of America's great technology industry, makes her, in my opinion, a first-class candidate for the presidency of the United States. She can be America's Maggie Thatcher.

I cannot think of anyone more qualified than Carly to lead this country into greater prosperity and happiness. She believes in high expectations, and in writing about her childhood, she noted: "I can say that I experienced firsthand the power of high expectations: Had less been demanded, less would have been achieved."

As much as I love Sarah Palin and her conservative heart and mind, Carly has much more to offer in terms of sheer mindboggling experience and vision. Great corporations are led by CEOs with great vision and the ability to transform that vision into reality. How much more confidence we would have in a president who had been head of a large computer company and had met many payrolls, than in an Alinsky-trained community organizer of underclass voters in Chicago. The fact that President Obama has not had a single productive idea concerning the oil spill in the Gulf shows how inadequate his life experience was in preparation for the job of chief executive. There is no doubt in my mind that Carly would have known what to do the moment she became aware of the accident.

The presidential election of 2012 is still a long way off. But Carly is now running against Barbara Boxer for her California Senate seat. Carly is such a formidable candidate, with such incomparable experience and knowledge, that I believe she will win. Indeed, Carly is the kind of candidate the Republican Party needs to restore its vision of less government, lower taxes and unqualified support of the most productive free-enterprise system in mankind's history.

Here are some great quotes from "Tough Choices," which reveal much about Carly's character:

"I did not feel gifted as a child. I know now that my parents were the most precious gift I had. 'What you are is God's gift to you. What you make of yourself is your gift to God.'"

"Don't become someone you don't like because of the pressure. Live your life in a way that makes you happy and proud. If you sell your soul, no one can pay you back."

"Leadership is about making a positive difference for and with others. Leadership is about the integrity of one's character, the caliber of one's capabilities and the effectiveness of one's collaboration with others."

"A leader's job is to build an organization's skills and capabilities and to develop its capacity for producing quality results. … A leader must capture hearts as well as challenge minds."

"Enemies always come along with success. People both appreciate and resent strength and success in others. Jealousy and resentment are feelings of inferiority or inadequacy."

"It's important to have confidence in what you know and what you can do. You can't make a decision effectively without confidence. Without realism confidence becomes hubris."

Carly, a pro-lifer, has been endorsed by the National Right to Life Committee, the California Pro-Life Council and the Susan B. Anthony List. She is pro-Second-Amendment and believes in less government, the need to cut taxes and the obligation of the federal government to balance its budget and defend our borders.

As the CEO of an American high-tech corporation with worldwide connections, Carly traveled the world and learned how important it is for America to be a leader in the global economy. Her knowledge of economics and how capitalism creates wealth makes her the most qualified candidate for the U.S. Senate. She knows what it takes to create jobs: by lifting the burden of taxes and regulations from the backs of small business.

I hope that Carly will write a short book about her political philosophy, explaining what she hopes to accomplish as a U.S. senator. And if the American people decide in 2012 that it is time for a woman to be in the Oval Office, I hope that either Sarah or Carly will be the one.