Almost as though a bolt of electricity zapped the GOP, Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz’s announcement on yesterday that Carly Fiorina will be his running mate was a shocker to many political onlookers. Say what you will about Cruz, he seems to get it. Not that he’s going to beat out Trump, mind you. But from a theoretical perspective, if we learned anything at all about the leanings of the nation over the last eight years it is that the people who elected Barack Obama to the presidency want change. They have controlled two elections and can continue to do so if they go to the polls. One thing seems certain: black, white, Asian, Hispanic, young and old, northerner and southerner, gay and straight– the majority of us do not want to return to things as usual.
Cruz’s selection of Fiorina is an acknowledgement that he has heard the voices of the majority of American voters. Together, he and Fiorina will represent a powerful inducement to two very important sections of the population. And by making the announcement even before he has the nomination, he has closed the door on any pressure to name a more “traditional” Republican running mate.
The fact that his only credible opposition at this point is Donald Trump leaves his decision unassailable. The anti-Trump sentiment among Republican leadership is greater than any need to demand that a man replace Fiorina. The GOP is trying desperately to distance itself from everything Trump.
The move is smart, but is it too little too late? The GOP has already been tarnished by Trump, whose derogatory comments about Mexicans, his plan to build a wall on the border and make Mexico pay for it, and his views on immigration in general have most Hispanic voters saying they will not vote Republican in the November election. But more importantly, the GOP has lost touch with its own rank-and-file. The two groups don’t know each other anymore. Trump has tapped into, and in some respects, dredged up the worst of what America is made of.
Trump’s victories in Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island were overwhelming. He won the closest of the 5 contests by nearly 30 points. Cruz limped out of the 5 elections with a only three delegates to show. The only comfort we can take in these developments is that Trump cannot win out over the forces that elected President Obama to office two times.
Meanwhile, on the Democratic side, voters continue to express their preference for Hillary Clinton. Bernie Sanders talks a good campaign, but hasn’t managed to convince the majority of his party’s voters that he can translate the rhetoric into actual results. And then there is that undeniable undercurrent of thought that after Obama, it’s time for a woman to become president.
