As Fiorina launches campaign, ‘carlyfiorina.org’ blasts HP lay-offs

Word to the wise: If you’re thinking of running for president, register your website name early.

Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina was reminded Monday of how important this is. As she launched her presidential campaign and website, www.carlyforpresident.com, it turns out somebody else had already launched carlyfiorina.org.

And the latter is decidedly not a pro-Fiorina site.

The site reads: “Carly Fiorina failed to register this domain. So I'm using it to tell you how many people she laid off at Hewlett-Packard. It was this many:”

The page goes on to display thousands of frowny faces, followed by the message: “That’s 30,000 people she laid off. People with families.”

The Hill reports that the anti-Fiorina page was actually created by an employee at the Service Employees International Union -- a group that often backs Democrats -- and was registered as far back as December.

In response to that revelation, Leslie Shedd, spokeswoman with the pro-Fiorina super PAC Carly for America, said: "Looks like Democrats have been worried about Hillary Clinton's most effective critic since last year."

The layoffs issue was also used against Fiorina, a Republican, during her unsuccessful 2010 California Senate bid. A Politifact analysis at the time found the charge is mostly true, though it ignores the context of those layoffs – due in part to a merger with Compaq and other factors.

Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz had a similar website issue when he announced his White House run.

TedCruz.com contains the message: "Support President Obama. Immigration Reform Now!"