After 'V-word' controversy, Fiorina pitches self as 'iron lady'

Will anyone accuse Carly Fiorina of going "full vagina" in her new campaign advertisement?

That two-word phrase was tweeted by a top surrogate for Ted Cruz in Iowa, Steve Deace, a conservative radio host on Tuesday night. Deace apologized for what he called a "vulgar" reference, but didn't back off his complaint that it was "disgusting" for a presidential candidate to play the "gender card."

Now, Fiorina is releasing a new digital ad that's decidedly woman-focused.

And it sends the message that she owns the idea that she has, well, an anatomy made of iron.

The ad features Margaret "Iron Lady" Thatcher, the first female prime minister of Britain. Then Fiorina, the lone female GOP presidential candidate, mentions the lone female Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton.

The tagline at the end says: "Let's make America's iron lady America's next president."

The ad will begin running online Thursday afternoon in the early states — Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada — campaign spokeswoman Audrey Scagnelli told The Des Moines Register.

Fiorina on Fox News on Wednesday night said it was inexplicable that Deace thought she "was playing the V-card" she just because she told "an American story" during her debate opening statement about surviving breast cancer, suffering the death of a child, and facing struggles as she climbed the corporate ladder.

"I've been called the B-word," she told Fox's Megyn Kelly Wednesday night, "so now I guess I'm going to be called the V-word."

"But the more important point," Fiorina said on Fox, "is this: this gentleman is more than a radio talk show host. (Deace) is a major surrogate for Ted Cruz and a major endorser. And this is why Ted Cruz cannot possibly beat Hillary Clinton."