Carly Fiorina (file photo)

Carly Fiorina (file photo)

Republican presidential hopeful Carly Fiorina says the nationally-televised debates have been crucial for her campaign because she is the “least-known candidate in the field.” Fiorina’s fundraising jumped after her performances in the past two debates, but Fiorina says she won’t be deploying that money toward advertising.

“We’re not going to be running ads. I can tell you that,” Fiorina says. “We’re going to be shaking hands and meeting voters.”

Other candidates have begun releasing policy papers outlining their tax plans and other initiatives, but Fiorina won’t be doing that either.

“Policy papers? Wow. How long have people been putting out policy papers during presidential campaigns and how many of those policies have ever been enacted?” Fiorina asks. “So what we do on my website is people see me talking about what I’m going to do. In other words, it’s genuine. It’s not some analyst writing it off in a corner somewhere. It’s actually me, talking about: ‘What will I do?'”

The next Republican candidate debate is October 28 and frontrunners Donald Trump and Ben Carson threatened to boycott the event if the debate lasted three hours. CNBC has agreed to have a two-hour debate. There’s also been a push by some campaigns to ensure the candidates get opening and closing statements.

“Apparently there are some of my rivals who want to shorten the debate, who want to have prepared statements,” Fiorina says. “I mean, you know, prepared statements and set speeches are what politicians do. I think what voters want is to have candidates answer questions.”

Fiorina says the debate gives her another opportunity to introduce herself to the 40 percent of Americans who don’t know her.

“I particularly appreciate a place like Iowa because Iowans don’t worry a lot about the pundits or the polls or the money. What they worry about is: Do you show up in their living rooms? Do you show up at their chili cook-offs? Do you show up at their football games? That’s why I’ve been here a lot,” Fiorina says. “I intend to be here a lot more.”

Fiorina made her comments late this morning after taping an appearance on Iowa Public Television. Fiorina had about $5.5 million cash in her campaign account at the end of September. About 40 percent of the money she raised in the past three months came in after her appearance in the September 16 debate.