DES MOINES, Iowa — Carly Fiorina kicked off her five-day tour this week through Iowa with a meet and greet in Council Bluffs – followed by a pit stop at Dairy Queen, not too far from the Des Moines area, where she’ll be tomorrow.
The former Hewlett-Packard CEO and likely presidential candidate boldly ate a chocolate sundae in a white blazer, clearly unafraid of potentially staining the jacket with chocolate. It’s also worth noting —unlike Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton’s mainstream media- buoyed trip to Chipotle last week—Fiorina didn’t hide behind sunglasses indoors and wasn’t on her Blackberry.
Fiorina documented her stop for a frozen treat with a photo on Facebook, in what’s become the latest in a long line of potential or declared candidates humanizing themselves via social media postings of fast food visits on the campaign trail. Rand Paul, for instance, put up a video of himself outside a New Hampshire McDonald’s during his announcement week, telling his supporters in it that he was buying staff lunch off the Dollar Menu, so their donations were well spent.
Clinton, on the other hand, used the mainstream media to push her Chipotle experience out there. In fact, security footage from the Chipotle—inside which no customers or staff recognized her—was leaked to ABC News in a blatant attempt by the likely Democratic presidential nominee to humanize herself during a pit stop while riding around the country in her “Scooby” van. Clinton reportedly ordered a chicken bowl with guacamole – and no dessert.
Fiorina will tour the Des Moines area on Wednesday and next week is expected to announce via Twitter that she is in fact running for president.