Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina is being vetted by [crscore]Ted Cruz[/crscore]’s campaign as a potential running mate.
The Weekly Standard on Monday quoted former Fiorina staffer Sarah Isgur Flores acknowledging the former Republican presidential candidate has been asked for material by Cruz’s campaign, including financial disclosure information.
The news comes amid speculation that Cruz, desperately in need of attention and a game changer, could announce a running mate in the near future.
Over the weekend, ABC’s Jon Karl floated the idea, saying: “There is an increasing sense of desperation in the Cruz campaign. They have to change the trajectory. I would not be surprised to see him name a running mate even before the Indiana primary next week to try to get an extra boost, basically a running mate that would help him through the rest of the primaries.”
“And if there’s one person I’d put on that list, and maybe only one person, it’s Carly Fiorina,” Karl added.
Ross Douthat, the New York Times columnist, agreed that announcing a running mate might make sense. “Cruz needs media oxygen in the next week, a way to have the story not just be Trump’s [Northeast] sweep. Not a lot of ways to get that.”
Fiorina, who dropped out of the presidential race in February, eventually endorsed Cruz and has campaigned for him. She got attention during the campaign as an effective attack dog against Hillary Clinton. California — the state where she won the Republican nomination for Senate in 2010 — votes June 7 and will likely determine whether Donald Trump wins a majority of delegates before the Republican National Convention.
Speaking to the Weekly Standard, Cruz spokeswoman Alice Stewart said: “We’ve already announced publicly that we’re vetting prospecting VP nominees, but no selection has been made yet. When that decision has been made, we will share it.”
Someone else who has been mentioned as potential running mate is Florida Sen. [crscore]Marco Rubio[/crscore], another former rival during the Republican primaries.
Earlier this month, Cruz said of Rubio: “Look, anyone would naturally look at Marco as one of the people who would be a terrific person to consider for VP. And we’re in the process now of considering a number of different options.”
There is a precedent of a candidate announcing a running mate before the Republican convention in order to help his chances: Ronald Reagan, a Cruz hero, did it during his unsuccessful quest for the nomination in 1976.
“In one of the convention’s boldest strokes, Reagan startled the party by announcing in advance that his running mate would be Sen. Richard Schweiker, a liberal Republican from Pennsylvania,” says Reagan biographer Craig Shirley. “The move dismayed conservatives — but it showed Reagan’s willingness to do what he needed to do to win.”
On Monday, Cruz campaign manager Jeff Roe tweeted: “We have narrowed our VP candidates to a short list and are going thru the normal processes associated with picking a running mate.”
We have narrowed our VP candidates to a short list and are going thru the normal processes associated with picking a running mate.#CruzCrew
— Jeff Roe (@jeffroe) April 25, 2016