Ted Cruz on Wednesday named Carly Fiorina as his vice presidential pick — in the event he becomes the GOP nominee — at a campaign event in Indianapolis.
So why is Cruz picking Fiorina? And why is he announcing it now?
The second question is easier to answer. Cruz and his team understand that after the primary votes over the past two weeks, any momentum he might have had following Wisconsin on April 5 is now gone. And all of it has gone to Donald Trump, who now looks nearly unstoppable in his quest to become the GOP’s nominee.
Given that reality, Cruz needs to change the narrative of the race. Immediately. There are five days until the Indiana primary. And if Cruz loses to Trump there, the nomination fight effectively will be over. And if nothing changes in the race in the Hoosier State, Cruz will lose.
Announcing Fiorina is a big swing at story-changing. Cruz has to hope that the coverage over the next few days — in Indiana and nationally — will focus on Fiorina and why it was smart of him to pick her. Every second that cable TV and local media outlets spend talking about Cruz and Fiorina is a second that Trump doesn’t dominate the conversation. And what recent history has told us is that when Trump dominates the conversation, he almost always wins.
This is rightly understood as a desperate attempt to retake the momentum in the race before it’s too late. To Cruz’s credit, he’s trying it.
Now to the first question: Why Fiorina?
Let’s take as a given that since Fiorina’s campaign ended and she endorsed Cruz on March 9, the two have found out that they have a genuine rapport and share a vision for the country. And let’s also assume that Fiorina has passed some sort of basic (or more-than-basic) vet by the Cruz campaign. (Remember that Fiorina not only ran for president in 2016 but also ran for Senate in 2010.)
What else does she bring Cruz? In order of importance, she is:
• A woman. Trump’s numbers among female voters — especially in a general election — are disastrous. Cruz has struggled to drive that message home in the primary but is clearly hoping that by elevating Fiorina to I’ll-pick-her-if-I-can-pick-anyone status that Fiorina can help reach female voters, whom the Texas senator needs, not just in Indiana but going forward in the race.
• A Californian. Fiorina is a known commodity in California Republican circles largely because of her 2010 Senate campaign, which, although she lost, got better post-campaign reviews than the gubernatorial effort run by fellow wealthy businesswoman Meg Whitman. Cruz is banking on Fiorina as an able surrogate for him in California before the state’s June 7 primary. By that point, Trump should be nearing the 1,237 delegates he needs to be the nominee. Depriving him of a handful here and there in California congressional districts may be Cruz’s only option. He believes Fiorina can help that cause.
• An attack dog. This works on a near-term and long-term basis. In the near term, Cruz now has an attack dog who has proven to be relatively effective in battling Trump. Fiorina’s reputation on that front is largely built on a single exchange during a CNN-sponsored debate in September in which she appeared to get the better of the real estate mogul, who has made comments about her face. (Yes, really.)
Long term — meaning if Cruz is the nominee — Fiorina is a potentially potent weapon to attack Hillary Clinton. In fact, during her own presidential campaign, Fiorina was, by far, the most willing to hit Clinton on personal matters — an approach she probably would continue if she is formally the Republican Party’s vice presidential nominee. And Cruz probably believes Fiorina, as a woman, would have more leeway and be more effective in those attacks.
None of it is unreasonable. And if Cruz is going to pick a VP this far in advance of the party convention, he could do worse.
But make no mistake: This is a Hail Mary pass. It, like the deal that Cruz and John Kasich cut this week, amounts to a tacit acknowledgment that if nothing changes in the race, Trump is going to win.
Could it work? Sure. Sometimes a Hail Mary gets caught. But usually it gets knocked down, and the other team starts celebrating.
