Tough-as-nails former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina kicked off her U.S. Senate campaign this week with defiant words for a ruthless opponent – her cancer.

“Let me start with the most obvious question: What’s with the hair?” she asked a crowd in Orange County, motioning to the graying buzz cut that replaced her auburn wigs of recent months.

“I’m happy to tell you that having been through surgery and chemotherapy and radiation, breast cancer is officially behind me. I feel absolutely great and I am raring to go.”

In California, where politics and drama are wedded, the Republican candidate’s public embrace of a disease that has ravaged millions of American women could resonate with women, who comprise the majority of the state’s 17 million voters and traditionally have been willing to cross party lines for candidates they like, experts said.

Will this translate into votes as she runs against Senator Barbara Boxer? Who knows and I know Carly does not care.

Carly has told me that she has seen the good, the bad and the ugly over the past year in the American health care system. This background can only help in crafting any reform of health care delivery.

And, the message that anyone can come back from cancer and run a vigorous Senate campaign is a inspiring life lesson for all of us.