Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina speaks during a campaign event at the Aviation Museum of New Hampshire Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2016, in Londonderry, N.H. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
GOFFSTOWN, NH — With renewed energy, Republican presidential hopeful Carly Fiorina was in New Hampshire Saturday morning to try and boost her campaign after being refused a spot in tonight’s televised debate.
Fiorina and her supporters criticized the media and the Republican National Committee for excluding her from tonight’s main stage event. Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), who has not officially endorsed any candidate yet, has been vocal about her disapproval of Fiorina’s expected absence tonight.
“They would like to basically tell us that votes are less important than polls,” said former state representative Marilinda Garcia, who has been endorsing Fiorina since she announced her campaign in May. “In Iowa she beat both governors Christie and Kasich, and she earned just as many delegates as Governor Bush.”
Framed by a #LetCarlyDebate sign, Garcia urged attendees to tweet at ABC and the RNC to express their disapproval at Fiorina’s exclusion.
According to RealClearPolitics, Fiorina is polling second to last in the Granite State, in at 3.9 percent. In the fall 2015 after a strong debate showing she had launched to second place behind perennial frontrunner Donald Trump, so the exclusion from tonight’s debate is a large blow to her campaign’s fight to gain ground in New Hampshire.
Fiorina addressed the crowd in Goffstown with an intensity that was not often seen at earlier town halls as she attacked the establishment that she says has an “anybody but Carly” mindset for allowing candidates to debate.
“There are a bunch of guys on that stage who have lobbied hard to keep me off that stage,” she said as the crowd booed. “I will go all the way to Cleveland. You send me out of here with the wind at my back, what the media doesn’t want you to know, is that we’re ready to go, we’re funded to go all the way. We have ground games in 12 states. We have tremendous support here in New Hampshire and beyond.”
Fiorina has gained the following she does have by presenting herself as an outsider to the corruption and bureaucracy of the government that establishment politicians are too closely tied to. She attacked Trump, stating that he is incapable of fighting the system because he is the system and has made billions of dollars by profiting off of the system that Fiorina intends to challenge. She argued that what the Republican party needs to defeat the Democrats in November is a strong leader who is capable of debating Hillary Clinton.
“I’m gonna beat her,” she declared. “You know I’m the best debater on the stage, and you know I have been fearless in telling the truth against Clinton.”
Fiorina took some questions from the crowd that allowed her to tout her plans to cut the country’s tax codes and to boost small businesses, criticizing the The Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act that has been a cornerstone of the Clinton campaign in recent weeks.
Demanding that the people of New Hampshire not settle for the current state of politics, she urged supporters to spend the weekend campaigning to their friends and neighbors on her behalf, determined that she still has a chance to make a strong showing in the votes on Tuesday. She also requested that attendees go to the debate sight this evening and make as much noise as they can about her exclusion.
Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina speaks during a campaign event at the Aviation Museum of New Hampshire Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2016, in Londonderry, N.H. (AP Photo/David Goldman) 
