Carly Fiorina Puts Feminine Face on McCain Campaign

The inner circle of advisers to John McCain is small, loyal—and almost completely male. But one woman has gained the candidate's respect and become a key surrogate for him in the media: Carly Fiorina, the ousted CEO of Hewlett-Packard. Each has something to gain—Fiorina is helping McCain with women voters, while the campaign is helping to rehabilitate her reputation, reports the New York Times.

Fiorina, once named the "most powerful woman in business" by Fortune, was fired in spectacular fashion 3 years ago amid accusations of mismanagement and incompetence. And while McCain is impressed by her performances on TV and at roundtables, the business world is less so. "You couldn’t pick a worse, non-imprisoned CEO to be your standard-bearer," sniped a Yale professor. (More John McCain stories.)