Kathleen Gray, Detroit Free Press 10:06 p.m. EDT September 19, 2015

Republican presidential candidate, businesswoman Carly Fiorina greets supporters as she arrives for the 2016 Mackinac Republican Leadership Conference, Saturday, Sept. 19, 2015, in Mackinac Island, Mich. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)(Photo: Carlos Osorio, AP)

MACKINAC ISLAND, Mich. — Fresh off a successful debate performance and polls showing her rising in popularity, California businesswoman Carly Fiorina was greeted by passionate crowds here Saturday at the Michigan Republican Party's Leadership Conference.

In her speech to a standing room only crowd at dinner, Fiorina laid claim to the mantle of the political outsider in the race.

"We have come to a pivotal point in our nation’s history where the potential of too many Americans is being crushed by the weight, power, cost and ineptitude of federal government and a professional political class who refuses to do anything about it," she said. "The status quo isn’t working anymore. The political class has failed us all, not because they’re bad people, but because they’ve been part of the system for so long. Leaders in a citizen government step forward, serve for a time and then they go home."

The California business woman gained some fans during her visit to Michigan, the second trip to the state this year.

"I watched the debate and she was prepared for all the questions, with facts and not a lot of bravado, but with some humor," said Marcy Jankovich, a Jackson Republican who joined several hundred people jammed into a downtown Mackinac Island bar to see Fiorina. "I say I'm a supporter, but it's still a year before the election and there is about four people on my short list. But right now, she's on top."

Fiorina greeted supporters at the event without giving remarks. But on her way through the crowd, she said she was encouraged by the recent good news on her campaign.

It was one of three events she did before her speech Saturday night — all geared toward audiences of Republican women. At a reception held on the Grand Hotel porch, Fiorina's entrance caused throngs of the curious and supporters to flock to her for selfies and words of encouragement and halted traffic into the hotel for 10 minutes.

"What we know is that when people get to know me and they hear who I am and what I believe and what I’ll do, they tend to support me," she said.

It was the debate performance that convinced Vanessa Mulnix of Springport that Fiorina should rise to the top of her list.

"I got a palpable sense of her conviction and passion and it really resonated with me. ...

"I’m still evaluating the candidates because you just never know what’s going to come out about them. But I’m excited about her," Mulnix added.

Fiorina said her personal story of rising up from a secretary to a CEO, as well as her position as a political outsider, will resonate with Michigan voters.

“Everyone’s had hard times in their life. Me too," she said.

"I think people sense we’re losing the possibilities that have defined this nation and I think what they believe we’re missing is leadership.”

She criticized government bureaucracy, particularly at the Department of Veterans Affairs, and said that real leaders need to challenge the status quo — a tactic she has said she used as CEO of technology giant Hewlett Packard that ultimately led to her getting fired from the job.

"I think we’ve been managing the decline of this great nation for far too long," she said. "But I’m prepared, with your support, to lead the resurgence of this great nation. I promise you, I am a fearless fighter. I will not falter, I have been tested and I will fight this fight."

West Bloomfield pollster Steve Mitchell backed up Fiorina's sense of ascension with a poll he released Saturday. Although New York businessman Donald Trump "still continues to defy gravity" and finished first in an automated phone survey of 700 likely voters with 26%, and pediatric neurosurgeon Ben Carson finished in second place with 21%, Fiorina finished third with 12%. And 36% of the people surveyed thought Fiorina won the CNN debate on Wednesday.

Her response to disparaging comments made by Trump about her appearance "were handled brilliantly," Jankovich said. "That was the thing that raised her estimation in my eyes,"

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