Who is Carly Fiorina? Many Americans could not answer that question before Wednesday night's GOP debate. But after her stellar performance at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, it seems like her name (and face) is everywhere.

No matter which way you look at it, Ms. Fiorina hit hard against the male-dominated aura of the GOP. She responded professionally and intelligently to comments from Donald Trump about her looks and her face. She showed a personal side when she elaborated on from where her feelings about drug addiction and decriminalization came.

To be honest, I had not heard anything substantial about the former HP CEO until after the second GOP debate. But what I saw and heard, I liked. A lot. She's a smart woman with a strong business background. She was one of Senator McCain's advisers for his 2008 Presidential campaign. If you google her, you'll probably see information about her "failure" as HP's CEO. This is largely due to her role in the merger of HP and COMPAQ which greatly increased HP's revenue, albeit after she had left the company. She also narrowly lost a senate race in California, one of the bluest states in the union.

As a conservative woman, I am thankful for the presence of a strong, smart woman on the GOP side of this election. Even if she doesn't make it all the way to the White House, she has taken a big step and once again shattered a glass ceiling that many thought would hold conservative women back for years to come. And because I (and many others) believe in looking past the sex of a candidate, I believe that she has real leadership potential and knows her stuff on a variety of issues, including but not limited to foreign policy, drugs, business, and the economy.

Unfortunately, she is facing an uphill battle specifically because she is a woman. She faces criticism on her appearance, her "lack of smiling" (really?), and a variety of other questions that none of her male counterparts receive. She is definitely the one to watch in the coming weeks. I sure hope she's ready.