Fiorina warms up for presidential campaign in Tiffin

Potential Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina told a crowd of more than 150 people Friday night at Clear Creek Amana High School that it was time to "re-imagine government."

Speaking to a group mostly made up of Johnson County Republicans attending the group's annual spaghetti dinner fundraiser in Tiffin, Fiorina detailed her credentials and spoke of her rise from "secretary to CEO of Hewlett Packard" during a nearly 30-minute speech.

Fiorina, the CEO of Hewlett-Packard from 1999 to 2005, has hosted a slew of events throughout the state of Iowa since Tuesday. With the Wall Street Journal reporting on Wednesday that she would announce her candidacy for president on May 4, the gathered crowd was abuzz with anticipation about seeing a woman on the brink of a presidential campaign.

Before she took to the podium in the middle of the high school's packed atrium, Fiorina buzzed around the room, speaking and shaking hands with as many people as possible.

"She doesn't seem to be a politician that says what you want to hear and then does what she wants to do," Joyce Shiley of Marion said after taking a picture with Fiorina.

Linda Westphal of Coralville was helping serve various desserts to the crowd. With cherry pie in one hand and a brownie in the other, Westphal said she was eager to "listen to and ask questions of a very articulate conservative Republican."

"This is the biggest crowd we've ever had at this fundraiser, and I think Carly Fiornia may be the reason why," Bill Keetel, the Johnson County Republicans' chairman, said jokingly.

Fiorina's speech began after most had finished their plates of spaghetti or lasagna. Though she barbed President Barack Obama, Fiorina saved her most fervent language for presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

"Hillary Clinton should not be president not because she is a woman, but because she is not a leader," Fiorina said to a thunderous applause from the crowd.

Since she spent years as the CEO of Hewlett-Packard, Fiorina said to the crowd, she wasn't a part of the same political class of Obama and Clinton. Her experience of dealing with a "$90 billion business at Hewlett-Packard" meant she had a different vantage point from the current president and the presidential hopeful.

Before she ended her speech and began to take questions from the crowd, Fiorina gave a call to action for the crowd.

"It's time for the citizens to stand up and say enough of the political class," Fiorina said. "We need to re-imagine government so we can unlock the potential of this country."

Reach Zach Berg at 319-887-5412, zberg@press-citizen.com, or follow him on Twitter at @ZacharyBerg.