The revelation that Carly Fiorina took four years to pay off twelve workers from her 2010 Senate campaign is one of those small nonpolitical icebergs that sink large political careers.

It seems that Fiorina owed substantial money (over $500,000 in total) to various critical members of her campaign, including campaign manager Martin Wilson and legal advisor Ben Ginsberg.  Fiorina got around to paying her staff off four years after the campaign ended, and only weeks before she announced for the 2016 presidential campaign.

A number of the people stiffed by Fiorina are stating publicly that they would never work for a new campaign.

To put things into perspective, Hillary Clinton managed to have her staff paid off within a year of the close of her 2008 presidential campaign.  Correction via Politico:

Hillary Clinton Took “More Than Four Years” To Pay Off The Campaign Debt From Her Failed 2008 Presidential Bid.  “More than four years after Hillary Clinton lost the Democratic nomination for president, Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign is finally debt-free, new reports filed by the campaign show.  Clinton’s campaign committee paid off about $25 million in debt and now has a surplus of $204,832. The campaign retired its debt just as Clinton is preparing to step down from her job as secretary of state. Clinton supporters are pushing her to run for the presidency again in 2016.” (Tarni Parti, “Hillary Clinton 2008 Campaign Now Debt-Free,” Politico 01/22/13

What makes it worse for Fiorina is the fact that this builds on her reputation for coldhearted business practice.  The layoff of thousands from Hewlett-Packard during her tenure may well have been unavoidable, but coupled with this story, it begins to paint a portrait of the Robber Baroness Unbound.

This line worked very well against Mitt Romney in 2012, with far less in the way of evidence.  The GOP cannot afford a repeat performance next year.  Unless Carly has a good answer forthcoming – and quickly – this may well be seen as the moment when the Fiorina campaign started going under.