Carly Fiorina pandered to Iowans by rooting against her alma mater, and it backfired hard

Carly Fiorina, the former Hewlett-Packard chief executive and current candidate for the Republican nomination for president, is a 1976 graduate of Stanford University, whose football team is playing in Friday's Rose Bowl.

This must be exciting for Fiorina. How many times does a university alumna get to watch her own alma mater play in the granddaddy of all college football bowl games, right in that school's home state? Pretty awesome, I'd bet.

Except, Stanford is playing Iowa. And the Iowa caucuses – the first official voting in the presidential primary electoral process – are one month from Friday. Surely, that has nothing to do with Fiorina's view of this college football game.

Love my alma mater, but rooting for a Hawkeyes win today. #RoseBowl
— Carly Fiorina (@CarlyFiorina) January 1, 2016

SB Nation College Football

Iowa fans tend to live in Iowa, and that tends to make them eligible caucus-goers. Fiorina is polling at about 2 or 3 percent in that state, which, again, is surely unrelated to her decision to turn heel on her own school and root for a Big Ten program located in a state where she's never lived or worked.

Just remember, Hawkeyes fans: Fiorina likes you for your grind-it-out brand of offense and athletic secondary, not because she wants your vote.

Update: Iowa got crushed, and even before that happened, nobody was all that impressed by her choice.

@CarlyFiorina If you can't stand up to the Hawkeyes how can you beat ISIS?
— pourmecoffee (@pourmecoffee) January 1, 2016

Then you don't love your alma mater. RT @CarlyFiorina: Love my alma mater, but rooting for a Hawkeyes win today. #RoseBowl
— The 15th Letter (@Omagus) January 1, 2016

Urgh. Who thought this tweet was a good idea? RT @CarlyFiorina Love my alma mater, but rooting for a Hawkeyes win today. #RoseBowl
— Brian Walsh (@brianjameswalsh) January 1, 2016

@CarlyFiorina sorry your new team has a really slow secondary
— Jonah Keri (@jonahkeri) January 1, 2016

@CarlyFiorina who do you expect would have a positive reaction to this tweet
— hello, it's phil (@PhilJamesson) January 1, 2016

Hahaha WTF. You always cheer for your alma mater. RT "@CarlyFiorina: Love my alma mater, but rooting for a Hawkeyes win today. #RoseBowl"
— James Stevenson (@JamesStevenson) January 1, 2016

Good start for Carly Fiorina's team. Bad start for Carly Fiorina's team
— Brian Floyd (@BrianMFloyd) January 1, 2016

. @CarlyFiorina i would love to be a fly on the wall in the crisis meeting you're having w your advisors right now pic.twitter.com/OczsI29m7h
— Watsky (@gwatsky) January 1, 2016