Fiorina 'Prepared to Lead America's Resurgence'

ATLANTA -- Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina will be on stage with the top candidates at the presidential debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, Wednesday.

These days, Fiorina draws standing-room only crowds while playing to conservative causes and proclaiming female power.

"How many of you would like to see me debate Hillary Clinton?" the former Hewlett Packard CEO recently asked a crowd of supporters in South Carolina.

While winning the Republican nomination remains a tall order, she's on the rise following a strong performance in the first GOP debate.

Fiorina calls the Ohio debate a good first step.

"This was an opportunity to introduce myself, for people to get to know who I am, how I think and what I might do," she told CBN News. "And so from that point of view I was really pleased."

Voters seem pleased as well.

Her numbers include a 20-point jump in likeability; she's moved from 1 to 9 percent in many state polls. That should land her a spot on the main stage when CNN hosts the second presidential debate in mid-September.

But despite the increased recognition and momentum, Fiorina knows work must be done.

"What do you think you need to convince voters of specifically?" CBN's Brody asked Fiorina.

"Well, I think, honestly, we now have momentum to capitalize on, but I think the mission remains the same," she replied.

"I need to convince voters that I can win this job because people know it's really important to win in 2016," she said. "And I need to convince voters as well that I can do the job and I think more and more voters are concluding, 'Yeah, she can win this job and she can do this job.'"

One positive is how she's stood out in the conversation over recent Planned Parenthood videos. Fiorina wants to stop taxpayer money from going to the abortion provider and she's willing to shut down the federal government to make that happen.

"You know, honestly, if it came to that I would. I hope it doesn't come to that," Fiorina said.

"If we are not prepared to stand up and fight over this, what are we prepared to stand up and fight over?" she asked.

Fiorina is certainly a fighter. She's a breast cancer survivor, former CEO of a fortune 500 company, and now wants to take on Democrats in the abortion debate.

"Hillary Clinton and other Democrats say this is about reproductive choice," Brody said. "It's a woman and her decision…"

"Oh, please! Oh, please!" Fiorina shot back. "It's such a tired old song. The majority of Americans now agree that abortion for any reason at all after five months is wrong."

"Honestly, the Democrats believe its okay for a 13-year-old girl to have an abortion without a parents' permission, but she can't go to a tanning salon, she can't go get a tattoo? This is the kind of hypocrisy that we have to expose," she charged.

It's tough talk from a woman who counts the late former British Minister Margaret Thatcher, also known as "The Iron Lady," as someone she admires greatly.

"The hero that I have thought a lot about in this campaign is Margaret Thatcher because it was Margaret Thatcher who said, 'I am not content to manage the decline of a great nation," Fiorina said.

"I'm prepared to lead the resurgence of a great nation," she continued. "And I think that's what 2016 is about, the leadership of the resurgence of this great nation."

Right now, Fiorina needs to keep surging in the polls to get ahead in a crowded GOP field.