Carly Fiorina was one of my personal-favorite performers from the first Republican presidential debate.

Being on the second stage, she benefitted from being free of the Trump circus and got to speak against a weaker field. She delivered clear, poignant points attacking Hillary, blasting Trump, and outlining how she plans to use her experience in the private sector to rebuild America’s economy. She seemed to me a breath of fresh air for the Republican party, outside of the machine, but not a total circus, like Trump.

And apparently I was not alone in my perception of Fiorina’s performance in the first debate. Since August, Fiorina has climbed enough in the polls to be included on the primetime stage for CNN’s presidential debate. It will be interesting to see how she preforms against a larger field and with the distraction of Donald Trump, but her appearance as the sole woman is likely to make her stand out if nothing else.

But aside from her recent performance, what makes her qualified for president? She has engaged in a Senate run in California and also served as CEO of Hewlett Packard; however, both of those resume points have their downside. While it was a close(ish) race, Fiorina did eventually lose the California Senate seat. Likewise, massive layoffs and a troubled merger with Compaq characterized her time at Hewlett Packard.

While her past may be questionable to the skeptic, her future will likely be decided in next week’s debate. I personally favor her for the Vice President portion of the Republican ticket, and if she can gain as much support and boost in the polls from the first debate as the second, then she certainly could be on her way to doing so.

There will be many to watch in the upcoming debate. Trump as always will be center stage and it will be interesting to see if Carson can continue his hot streak. But to me Fiorina seems to be the one candidate having the most riding on this second debate, poised to either continue her momentum or fall back into the lower end of the pack with her performance.

In the aftermath of this second debate we may see if at last anyone can present a legitimate challenge to Trump in the polls or if he can continue his ego parade, sorry I mean presidential candidacy, for even longer.