Carly Fiorina's muddled legacy in Silicon Valley

[cal04]

Former H-P chief stands on controversial record in bid for Senate seat
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/fiorinas-muddled-legacy-in-silicon-valley-2010-07-29

If Carly Fiorina wins in November, California would be sending not just any technology businessperson to the U.S. Senate.

The Golden State would be represented by one of the most controversial Silicon Valley leaders in recent years, the celebrity executive who pulled off one of the biggest tech mergers in history -- but was then booted out after apparently being deemed incapable of running the powerhouse she helped create.

(snip)
Ethan Rarick, director of UC Berkeley's Robert Matsui Center for Politics and Public Service, calls Fiorina's record "a two-edged sword."

Voters "will be impressed that she knows how to run a business and that she comes from the private sector -- which is often seen, rightly or wrongly, as being more efficient," he said. But "if they perceive her business experience as that she cut a lot of jobs, she ran the company into the ground and then she got fired, obviously that won't help her."