INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Eric Trump, son of the presidential candidate, tweeted out today that Ted Cruz’s selection of Carly Fiorina “is truly one of the greatest acts of desperation I have ever seen.” This is true, of course, and even Cruz had to admit that it was “unusual to make the announcement as early as we are doing now.” But however unconventional it is, the only thing that matters is whether it works.
Purdue student Kyle Rice told me he’d made the trip down from West Lafayette to see Cruz speak (with Fiorina as a bonus surprise) because Cruz was “the only one who can stop Donald Trump.” And he wasn’t the only one attending the rally to bring this up unasked. But Cruz’s ability to do that is now in serious doubt. The math requires of him both a victory in Indiana next Tuesday and a very strong performance — possibly even an outright victory — in California.
Can Fiorina help him do this? Her introduction at this stage, desperation or no, serves a threefold purpose. First, it employs against Trump a media relations tactic that he has mastered — drowning out bad news with good. And this unconventional announcement has already changed the subject from Trump’s sweep of the East Coast on Tuesday.
Second, it marks a new appeal to Republican women. We already know that Trump’s favorability with women voters is poor, and he has often suffered from a large gender gap, even in primaries where he has won women. Cruz has not really been able to cash in on the gender difference. Women who have hesitations about Cruz — and especially the ones who remember and like Fiorina — might find in her a reason to give him a second look or a second chance.
Third, there’s California. Along with Indiana, the Golden State will decide the nomination in the coming weeks. In order to preserve some chances for himself, Cruz has to win Indiana and then keep Trump at or around 100 delegates in California.
It is admittedly a stab in the dark, but California GOP primary voters have backed Fiorina in the past and are familiar with her from her 2010 Senate bid against Barbara Boxer. If she can get a few more Californians to give Cruz the time of day, every little bit helps.
The final point worth noting here is that there are no obvious drawbacks to Cruz doing this, at least as it pertains to the Republican primary.
He’s at the point now where he has nothing left to lose. A bigger question than why he did this is, is he already doing it too late?
