Fiorina: Don’t underestimate me, or Clinton

Fiorina was asked on “Morning Joe” how Clinton’s official launch went over the weekend, and said it was a “good launch,” especially if you’re a liberal Democrat. “We should not underestimate her,” she said.

There’s little risk of that — Clinton is the pre-emptive frontrunner among Democrats, so much so that it’s not clear there will be any drama in the Democratic primaries next year.

Fiorina herself is much more at risk of being marginalized. She is currently polling at less than 2 percent among all current and likely candidates. Her numbers have failed to pick up the way some others have, such as Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and didn’t start strong, like those enjoyed by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who announced his candidacy Monday.

Still, she complained to host Joe Scarborough that it would be a mistake to discount her own candidacy. “What I said was, you discount me, and you underestimate me,” she said.

“I understand the economy. I understand how the world works and who’s in it. I know more world leaders on the stage today than anyone running, with the possible exception of Hillary Clinton, although I didn’t do photo-ops with them, I had private meetings with them. I understand bureaucracies and what it takes to move them because our government is one giant, bloated, unaccountable, corrupt, inept bureaucracy,” Fiorina said.

Fiorina picked apart Clinton’s speech as “deeply contradictory” and little more than a “long litany of left-wing causes.”

“She says she wants to campaign for all Americans and then throws every Republican out there under the bus,” Fiorina said. “She talked about being a champion for the middle class and then proceeds to talk about a set of energy policies that will raise energy bills for the middle class. She talked about money and politics. She’s going to raise more of that money than anyone else.”