Ted Cruz Names Former Hewlett Packard CEO, Carly Fiorina as Running Mate

Ted Cruz on Wednesday named former Hewlett-Packard CEO, Carly Fiorina as his vice presidential running mate. Fiorina isn't exactly an outsider to politics. Prior to her unsuccessful bid for the presidency this year, she also ran for U.S. Senate against Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.). She also served as the Republican National Committee's "Victory Fund" fundraising chairwoman, and was considered a potential running mate for 2008 GOP candidate Sen. John McCain before he picked then-Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

Cruz announced Fiorina as his vice pick during a rally in Indiana, a state he must win next week in order to keep his White House hopes alive. He cast the unusual announcement as a way to give voters confidence in their choice if they vote for him.
“You deserve to know exactly where a candidate stands,” he said.

Fiorina immediately went after Trump and Hillary Clinton, vigorously embracing the aggressive role of a No. 2 on the White House ticket. She cast Trump and Clinton as a pair of liberals who would do little to shake up Washington.
“They’re not going to challenge the system — they are the system,” Fiorina said.

Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich are trying to keep Trump from securing the 1,237 delegates he needs to clinch, thereby pushing the Republican race toward a contested convention. But Trump strengthened his standing this week with a sweep of five Northeast primaries, giving him 77 percent of the delegates he needs.

Trump headed to Indiana Wednesday as well, following his address in Washington.

Before an audience of foreign policy experts in Washington, Trump outlined a doctrine that he said would put American interests first, leaving allies to fend for themselves if they don’t contribute financially to back up security agreements. He also vowed to send U.S. troops into combat only as a last resort, a break from years of hawkish Republican foreign policy.

“Our goal is peace and prosperity, not war and destruction,” he declared in the 38-minute address that was heavy on broad statements about U.S. strength and light on specific policy details. Unlike his rambunctious, free-wheeling rallies, Trump read prepared remarks in a measured tone off a teleprompter.

Trump also used the address to target Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton, his expected opponent in a general election. He assailed her for her handling of the deadly 2012 attack on Americans in Benghazi, Libya, and said that during her tenure as secretary of state, the U.S. had a “reckless, rudderless and aimless foreign policy.”