Ted cruz picks Carly Fiorina as Vice President running mate

Brian Cervantez

In an unprecedented move in politics Ted Cruz has picked his running mate for Vice President. This move is a strategy by Cruz because with each passing day the Republican party looks to be moving towards a contested convention between Cruz and Donald Trump.

Cruz is getting a head start on Trump by already having a VP picked. The move is showing that Cruz doesn’t want to give up on his campaign and hand Trump the nomination for the republican party. The republican nomination convention is about two months away. The party is still not unified and it still does not look like they know who they want to be the front-runner for the Republican party, but this could change as the convention looms closer.

“I think that Cruz is just trying to stay above water,” said Shane Broxterman, Sophomore, Pre-med and Biology. “I don’t think that it will change the direction of his campaign,” 

The move is seen by some in the Republican party as a last ditched effort for Cruz since mathematically there is no possible way he can win the republican nomination outright. To some this looks like a good idea to pick V.P. now for Cruz, but the problem with this is the fact that if Cruz does not do a great job in indiana next Tuesday for GOP primaries then it will ruin his dreams for a contested convention. Trump does not seem worried by this and why should he be with the fact that he has a commanding lead over Cruz as of right now. This still gives Cruz an advantage because now voters and the republican party are going to be curious who is Trump going to pick for his running mate.

The problem with the running mate Cruz picked is that both of these candidates went back and forth at each other during the early days of the primaries before some candidates drop out of contention. The problem is when things get hard for these two in the upcoming weeks will they stand strong or would they fold and start going back and forth and each other again.

“Well Fiorina is obviously appealing for Cruz, drawing in women voters, more moderate than Cruz himself and would give him “balance” in the voters eyes,” Said Brenden Williams, Freshman, political science. “She may not have been successful as a candidate herself, but it makes sense that she’d be picked as a VP for a candidate desperate for votes since Cruz is losing to Trump. He needs a boost in his campaign and she may be the one he needs to get the nomination.” 

Fiorina has never held elected office before which in this uncertain time in politics voters and parties are looking for someone who has some experience. She has worked on other campaigns before, but the big issue is what are her beliefs and what will she stand that might be different than Cruz point of view. The other thing that is wrong with Fiorina is the fact that she was a CEO at Hewlett-Packard, but she was fired from them for differences.

The thing for a voter to think about is how can working at a company like HP help her to focus on the issues that are facing the country today. Only time will tell if this move by Cruz will pay off in the short and long run as the republican candidates race to the Republican convention on July 18.