INDIANAPOLIS, April 27, 2016 (Gephardt Daily) — The world learned today what Utahns may have suspected since March 19.
Carly Fiorina, who supported Sen. Ted Cruz by speaking on his behalf in March when he campaigned in Utah, is now officially his running mate.
“If I am nominated to be president of the United States, I will run on a ticket with my vice presidential nominee, Carly Fiorina,” Cruz said on Wednesday.
Cruz, 45, said he made the decision after much thought and prayer, and after considering matters including intelligence, character, treatment of people, and respect for the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
Cruz noted that Fiorina was the first female in history to act as CEO as a Fortune 20 company. She graduated from Stanford University and from MIT, he said.
“Carly is brilliant and capable, yet has experienced the hard scrabble world of being a female business professional,” Cruz said. He added that Fiorina was more than capable of handling presidential duties should the need arise.
Among the life experiences that proved she was a fighter, Cruz said, is that she battled and beat breast cancer.
Fiorina, 61, ended her own campaign for the Republican presidential nomination shortly before she began supporting Cruz, seven weeks ago.
Fiorina is a former chief executive of Hewlett-Packard. She brings with her a strong business background, and she is a proponent of small government. Political analysts have said that as a female, Fiorina can act as a foil against Hillary Clinton.
Cruz said he made his vice presidential announcement early because it would allow voters to know what they would get by supporting his candidacy.
“The voters deserve to know exactly where a candidate stands,” he said, adding that “… elections are about choices.”
Political analysts have speculated that time timing of Cruz’s announcement was a way to take the focus off Donald Trump, who won all five states — Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island — that held primaries on Tuesday.
Fiorina said the fight for the presidential nomination and office is vital.
Fiorina called the two Washington insiders, although Trump has no experience in public office.
“They are not going to challenge the system,” she said. “They are the system.”
Fiorina praised Cruz, a conservative and a Constitutional attorney, as someone who would stand up for his beliefs.
“Here’s what I know about this man who must be the next president of the United States: He is a fighter, too…. He fought for our religious liberty, our right to bear arms. He fought before the Supreme Court. He won all those fights.”
And that is key, Fiorina said.
“It is time,” she said. “We must take our country back.”
