Fiorina's new role trades on time at HP

Some say Fiorina may have simply been out of her element at HP, as someone whose focus on marketing and branding made her an odd fit in HP's hardcore techie culture.

She drew snickers from some longtime HPers for the company's decision in 2004 to sell HP-branded iPods. The idea was to liven up the company's staid image, but HP abandoned the initiative the following year.

She's always been candid that her background is nontechnical: a Stanford University undergrad in medieval history and philosophy, she went on to earn master's degrees in management from the University of Maryland and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Fiorina, uncharacteristically dynamic for a Silicon Valley CEO, was also criticized for her own celebrity appeal, a perception that made her stand out against the low-key images of many other valley chief executives.

Still, supporters say Fiorina has been vindicated by HP's success since her firing. They argue the changes she made ultimately helped a hidebound HP and demonstrated a decisiveness and willingness to take risks that could work to her advantage in politics. They also say her leadership in the Compaq merger showed deft political maneuvering that could foreshadow how she would approach political office.

"There's an inside-the-valley perception (about Fiorina), but those are not necessarily things that would hurt her outside the valley," said Mozelle Thompson, the former commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission who oversaw the agency's antitrust review of HP and Compaq merger.

"To the extent that some people may not view Carly Fiorina as shy and retiring, she would fit in really well in Washington."

She's also a well-known business figure who will help McCain win voters and donors, particularly in deep-pocketed Silicon Valley. McCain has also recruited Cisco Systems Inc. Chief Executive John Chambers and former eBay Inc. Chief Executive Meg Whitman. They are on McCain's national finance committee.

"Carly is in many respects very appealing to the California electorate -it's hard to put her in a box," said Boris Feldman, a partner at the Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati law firm who worked with Fiorina on a court case challenging the HP-Compaq merger and has raised money for the McCain campaign.

Fiorina says there are many parallels to politics and running a company. With more than 150,000 employees when Fiorina was fired, running HP could be compared to being mayor of a medium-sized city like Syracuse, N.Y.