A number of my politically astute friends are deeply upset that Carly Fiorina is not moving into the top ten GOP candidates in polling, the arbitrary cutoff line being used by Fox News to determine eligibility for the very first televised debate among the Republican field. Given the tightness of the field, the margin of error in the polls, and the importance of name recognition over all other factors, the method chosen by Fox News seems quite foolish.

There are very good reasons to grant Carly special standing. She is showing herself to be highly articulate and superbly prepared in the issues. And she comes with two x chromosomes in every cell of her body, a status that grants her unique (and unfair, but there it is) status to criticize Hillary Clinton in a season where “war on women” is being telegraphed as the principal electoral appeal to over half the electorate. This meme predictably will make any male candidate that criticizes Mrs. Clinton into a sexist beast. Running against Hillary for the New York junior senator’s seat, Rick Lazio (a fairly mild fellow) was savaged by the press as threateningly aggressive when he approached her podium during a two-person debate.

Readers of this website do not need to be reminded that Hillary Clinton brings to her campaign an enormous amount of baggage that needs close inspection. A campaign gentlemanly enough to escape charges of sexism (and worse) will simply not suffice. Carly Fiorina is uniquely qualified to fill that role for arbitrary and sexist reasons. Whether as candidate or running mate, she would bring something unique to the ticket.

My friend Clarice Feldman has come up with an idea that has no downside and considerable upside in bringing Carly a little heat in the debate question: Mrs. Fiorina should challenge Hillary to a one-on-one debate, to be televised on a pay-per-view basis, with all proceeds going to an appropriate charity, such as breast cancer research.

If Hillary declines the challenge, she heightens her existing problems with ignoring the media and refusing to answer questions. Carly is handed an issue that Hillary refuses to join the fight against breast cancer and is obviously afraid of facing questions.

I suspect that at a reasonable charge of, say, $10 per television, there would be a few million people tuning in. That’s a lot of money for a woman-oriented charity.

If there is a downside (beyond being called a stunt – but what is stunt-like about a debate  between the only two females running for president?), I don’t see it.