Cruz picks Carly Fiorina as his running mate

WASHINGTON: White House hopeful Ted Cruz, seeking to halt the march of Republican frontrunner Donald Trump, announced Wednesday that businesswoman Carly Fiorina would be his running mate if he wins the nomination.
"After a great deal of consideration and prayer, I have come to the conclusion that if I am nominated to be president of the United States, that I will run on a ticket with my vice presidential nominee Carly Fiorina," Cruz said in Indiana, the next state to vote in the primary race.
Fiorina, 61, has been one of the staunchest Cruz supporters since she ended her own presidential bid early this year, not to mention an outspoken critic of both Trump and Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton.
"Today, I am very proud and very humbled and honoured to announce that I have accepted Senator Ted Cruz's offer to be his vice president for the republican nomination," a beaming Fiorina said as she took the stand.
"There is a lot at stake," she said. "This is a fight for the soul of our party and the future of our nation."
"You know what? I've had tough fights all my life. Tough fights don't worry me a bit."
In her own campaign Fiorina regularly noted how she would be the Republican candidate best able to neutralize Clinton's gender advantage during the race.
"Over and over again, Carly has shattered glass ceilings," Cruz told the crowd in Indianapolis, saying she had climbed the corporate ladder "to become the CEO of the largest technology company in the world."
Fiorina understands the world's dangers, Cruz said.
"In naming her as my vice presidential nominee, I am also telling you that she is someone you can be confident in, if the occasion should arise to be commander in chief and keep this country safe."
Should Cruz win the nomination, Fiorina would be only the third woman on the ticket in a major US political party, after vice presidential nominees Geraldine Ferraro in 1984 and Sarah Palin in 2008.
But Cruz remains far from securing the party ticket.
He is mathematically eliminated from winning the number of delegates needed to win outright, and has acknowledged that his only hope would be to make it to a contested Republican convention in July, and to get a sufficient number of delegates to vote for him as the nominee. — AFP