Badly in need of diversion from the anaemic state of the “Never Trump” campaign he is spearheading, Mr Cruz rushed the announcement of his vice presidential pick.
Advertisement
Fiorina and Cruz both said they had grown close since her endorsement, and she sang a few verses of a song she said she sings to Cruz’s two daughters on their campaign bus.
Cruz said Fiorina had already proven her mettle in standing up to Trump a year ago after he insulted her looks in an interview.
“Carly is brilliant and capable, and yet she experienced the hardscrabble world of being a female professional”, Cruz said in announcing his pick at a rally in Indianapolis, where his supporters held red, white and blue “Cruz/Fiorina ’16” signs that were handed out as Cruz spoke. She unsuccessfully ran for Senate in 2010 in the state.
“I’m not going to feed the speculation one way or the other”, said House Speaker Paul Ryan.
But after dropping out of the race in February and endorsing Cruz last month, Fiorina has papered over her criticisms by suggesting they were disagreements on strategy, not principle, according to CNN.
Some analysts think that Nebraska on May 10 might be the last primary battle that could make a difference, but there is a consensus that IN more likely could be a cathartic last stand – a knockout blow by Trump or a last gasp by Cruz. “They are the system”. “So while Cruz competes in Indiana, Carly can spend time campaigning in California, where she really did very well”. Trump was quoted in a Rolling Stone profile as complaining about Fiorina’s looks when she appeared on the television he was watching, saying, “Look at that face!”.
“I think it’s a great choice”. She finished seventh in both the Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary, and suspended her campaign.
“Trump is a hair’s breath away from the nomination”, said Larry Gerston, political science professor emeritus at San Jose State University. Richard Schweiker of Pennsylvania, ahead of the 1976 convention. Cruz and Fiorina, however, said the move was needed to prevent front-runner Donald Trump from winning more delegates and the Republican nomination. She peaked early in the contest with a forceful showing in the first GOP debate, and proved herself to be a salient attack dog against Democrat Hillary Clinton.
If Cruz, a USA senator from Texas, can win a large share of the state’s 57 delegates on May 3, it will boost the chances that Trump will not be able to amass the 1,237 delegates he needs to clinch the nomination before the party’s convention in July. Republicans believed early on in the race that Fiorina, the only woman in the GOP race, could uniquely criticize Clinton in a way without the backlash that other male candidates might risk.
UW Political Science Professor Mark A. Smith calls Cruz’s move “risky”, but says he has nothing to lose at this point in the race.
A breast cancer survivor who lost a stepdaughter to drug addiction, Fiorina served as Hewlett-Packard chief executive from 1999 to 2005.
Advertisement
“Our job, whether we win or whether we do not win, is to transform not only our country but the Democratic Party, to open the doors of the Democratic Party to working people and young people and senior citizens in a way that does not exist today”, Sanders said.
