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The Weird Cruz-Fiorina Gambit

Naming a running mate at this point in the race is a desperate move for Cruz.
carly fiorina

The effort to stop Trump just became a lot more comical:

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz will announce on Wednesday afternoon that former presidential rival Carly Fiorina has agreed to be his running mate should he win the GOP presidential nomination, sources confirmed to WMUR.

Naming a running mate at this point in the race is a desperate move for Cruz, but I suppose he has decided that he may as well take a chance in the hopes that this will keep his campaign from being ignored. Fiorina a strange choice, but then Cruz is in the strange position of pretending that he will end up as the nominee despite being a distant runner-up to Trump. I suppose it’s possible that adding Fiorina as his running mate will help Cruz a little in the California primary, but unless he wins Indiana next month it probably won’t matter.

As a matter of politics, it is difficult to see what Fiorina adds except for her being from California. Cruz reportedly sees her as a talented “attack dog,” and I suppose she can do that well enough, but she also brings with her the baggage of her business record. Selecting a former CEO who was known for the large number of employees she fired is an odd choice under any circumstances, and it is likely going to create more headaches for Cruz than it solves. She has had no success in politics, so it’s not clear why anyone would think that adding her to the campaign would lead to success. On top of all that, Fiorina isn’t prepared to be president if necessary. For that reason alone, it is a mistake to select her as a would-be Vice President, and it reflects poorly on Cruz’s judgment.

The main problem for Cruz is that naming a running mate this far in advance of the convention so reeks of desperation that it probably cancels out whatever small advantage having Fiorina as a running mate might give his campaign.

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