Subject: RE: Coverage of our California press call
From: "Garcia, Walter" <[email-masked]>
To: Comm_D <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 28 Apr 2016 14:32:41 -0700

More coverage below!
Boxer: Cruz and Fiorina are 'mean and meaner'<http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/277952-boxer-cruz-and-fiorina-are-mean-and-meaner>

By Harper Neidig, THE HILL

Sen. Barbara Boxer<http://thehill.com/people/barbara-boxer> (D-Calif.) slammed Carly Fiorina Wednesday, shortly after Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz<http://thehill.com/people/ted-cruz> announced that the former Hewlett-Packard CEO would be his running mate if he wins the nomination.

In a call with reporters, the retiring California senator predicted that Fiorina will not get very far.
"Well I think that the most accurate description of that team would be mean and meaner," she said.
"He wants to ship immigrants out of America, and she's already shipped jobs out of America. And they're the perfect duo. Seriously. I would predict, actually, that this Fiorina merger will be just as successful as her last one at HP."
Boxer also gloated about her 2010 Senate victory over Fiorina.
"The people in California rejected Carly Fiorina in a year that was a very tough year for Democrats, believe me. We had the worst recession since the Great Depression, and she tried to pin it on me. She was a very mean opponent and the bottom line is they rejected her, and now she's coming back again - it's like a bad dream."

Could Fiorina Help Cruz Win California Delegates?<http://www.capradio.org/articles/2016/04/27/reports-ted-cruz-will-name-carly-fiorina-as-running-mate>
*         Ben Adler<http://www.capradio.org/about/bios/ben-adler/>, Capitol Public Radio

 If there's any doubt that Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz needs a strong showing in California's June 7 primary election, just look at his newly-named running mate. Carly Fiorina has plenty of California ties - and now she'll be asked to help Cruz block Donald Trump, starting at this weekend's California Republican Party convention.
From her six years as CEO of Hewlett-Packard to her 2010 campaign for U.S. Senate, Carly Fiorina is no stranger to California. She's well-known in business and tech industry circles, and has statewide name recognition among rank-and-file Republicans.
"I think that there will be a large contingent of Republicans in California who might otherwise have found Ted Cruz to be a little more conservative on some issues than they'd like who will feel more comfortable with Carly," says Palo Alto lawyer Boris Feldman, who represented Fiorina while she led HP and has remained close with her since.
"People in the Bay Area know her, have known her for years. And I think that many of the Republicans here have very warm feelings toward her," he says.
That could be key in a GOP primary that will award three delegates to the winner in each of California's 53 congressional districts - giving the liberal Bay Area just as much voting power as conservative Orange County.
Fiorina trounced GOP challengers from the left and the right in her 2010 Senate primary campaign, winning well over 50 percent of the vote. But despite spending millions of her own dollars, she lost by 10 points to Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer - who clearly hasn't forgotten that race.
"The people in California rejected Carly Fiorina in a year that was a very tough year for Democrats - believe me," Boxer said on a Democratic National Committee conference call with reporters Thursday shortly after Cruz made his big announcement. "She was a very mean opponent, and the bottom line is they rejected her. And now, she's coming back again - it's like a bad dream."
Might Fiorina might give Cruz a boost in the Golden State?
"She's run away from California, so anyone who says she's going to get him votes - she left, she doesn't even live there anymore, it's not even her residence!" Boxer says.
But Field Poll Director Mark DiCamillo disagrees. He says Fiorina has been most popular in the Central Valley and parts of Southern California excluding Los Angeles.
"Her image is stronger among conservatives and tea party activists, which pretty much align with supporters of Ted Cruz, so it seems like a natural complement to his candidacy," DiCamillo says.
As for whether Fiorina could accept the role of vice president when she's best known for her stint as a Fortune 20 CEO, Feldman says she'd be both capable and loyal.
"I don't think she'd be itchy about being Number Two in that relationship," he says. "It's just not what she's about. She's a very collaborative person - not an egomaniac as some people who run for president are."
Fiorina has already been scheduled to speak at this weekend's California Republican Party convention Saturday night in Burlingame. The scheduled lunch speaker that day? Cruz.
Trump and Ohio Gov. John Kasich are speaking on Friday - and both will make their first campaign stops in California in the coming days. Trump will hold a rally Thursday night at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa. Kasich has scheduled town halls Friday afternoon at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco and Saturday morning at the Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose.

With Carly Fiorina as running mate, Ted Cruz has eye on California<http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article74289332.html>

BY DAVID SIDERS AND CHRISTOPHER CADELAGO, SACRAMENTO BEE
Ted Cruz's announcement of Carly Fiorina as his running mate came Wednesday in Indiana, where Cruz is laboring to keep his candidacy afloat, but with a careful eye on California, where the campaign could be decided.
Just more than a month before California's critical June 7 primary, the Texas senator now holds in Fiorina a high-profile surrogate who has run for statewide office here before.
Fiorina, the former Hewlett-Packard Co. chief executive, was pummeled by Democrat Barbara Boxer in the U.S. Senate race in 2010. But California Republicans selected Fiorina in a competitive primary, and it is those same voters to whom Cruz is shaping his appeal.
"She's a known commodity in California," Mark Meckler, a co-founder of the Tea Party Patriots, told the McClatchy Washington Bureau on Wednesday. "Her name is well known in California. The question is - too little, too late?"
Cruz's announcement followed victories by the Republican front-runner, Donald Trump, in five states on Tuesday. It came two days ahead of the California Republican Party's convention in Burlingame, where Cruz, Fiorina, Trump and Ohio Gov. John Kasich are all scheduled to speak.

Fiorina, who abandoned her own presidential campaign in February, was outmatched in California by Boxer's experience, and she came under heavy criticism from Democrats for laying off 30,000 employees and outsourcing thousands of jobs at HP.
But Fiorina was widely praised in both her Senate campaign and long-shot presidential bid for her performance in debates, for which she enjoyed a brief surge in polls nationally and among California Republicans last year.

"It's an interesting pick, obviously one in which (Cruz) hopes to get some momentum going into Indiana and California," said Beth Miller, a Republican strategist who served as an adviser to Fiorina in 2010.
Miller said Fiorina "connects very well with people" while campaigning.
But Fiorina has not lived in California for several years, having moved to Mason Neck, Va., outside Washington, D.C., after losing to Boxer in 2010. Nor does Fiorina come to the campaign with political infrastructure in the state.
"It's not like he's tapped into an established Republican elected official in California who brings ... that kind of political infrastructure or grass-roots organization," Miller said. "I would consider her selection more of a provocative choice to generate media rather than an ace in the sleeve for California."

Former Republican Rep. Doug Ose, a Trump supporter, said he suspects the selection of Fiorina is a way for Cruz to distract from the "Texas-style whoopin' " applied by voters Tuesday.

"If you are not the nominee, what difference does it make?" Ose asked of the Fiorina pick. "However much you respect Ms. Fiorina, this is a sideshow. This is a total distraction."
In her campaign to unseat Boxer, Fiorina lost by more than 10 percentage points. But the state is so overwhelmingly Democratic that no Republican was likely to win. In the primary election, Fiorina bested former Rep. Tom Campbell and then-Assemblyman Chuck DeVore. She crushed the more moderate candidate, Campbell, defeating him in 48 of California's current 53 congressional districts, with an average margin of victory of more than 40 percentage points.
"Remember that in the primary she had to beat two opponents, both of whom were very experienced elected officials, or in the case of Campbell, a former elected official," said Marty Wilson, who managed Fiorina's Senate campaign.
Fiorina already had endorsed Cruz. But Wilson said her status as a vice presidential prospect will boost his candidacy's visibility in the state.
"From a tactical point of view, it expands Cruz's bandwidth," Wilson said. "So while Cruz competes in Indiana, Carly can spend time campaigning in California, where she really did very well."
Cruz is running behind Trump in statewide public opinion polls in California. But because California Republicans award nearly all of their 172 delegates by congressional district - three delegates each to the winner of each of 53 districts - beating the New York businessman in even a handful of districts could prevent him from obtaining the delegates necessary to secure the nomination.
"She might have certain advantages in some regions of the state," said Mark DiCamillo, director of the Field Poll. "She did do fairly well against Boxer, for example, in the Central Valley and the inland areas when she ran for Senate. ... Those are the areas that she probably might bring some benefit to Cruz."
DiCamillo said voters in a presidential election are rarely influenced significantly by a candidates' choice for vice president.
"But with Cruz," DiCamillo said, "he's trying to pull out all the stops. And this is kind of the last-ditch effort to stop Trump in California, and you know, I think he's trying to do everything he can to do that. So I think that's his calculation."
Meckler acknowledged shortcomings in Fiorina's Senate and presidential campaigns but said Fiorina could improve Cruz's image ratings in the state.
"To be fair, they're not bringing her in because they're counting on her to run the campaign," he said. "They're bringing her in to run as a surrogate, to hopefully attract women or soften Cruz with women."
Boxer, in a telephone call with reporters, dismissed the Cruz-Fiorina ticket as "mean and meaner." Boxer sought to tie Cruz's tough stance on illegal immigration to Fiorina's stormy record as the head of Hewlett-Packard.
"He wants to ship immigrants out of America and she's already shipped jobs out of America," Boxer said. "They are the perfect duo. Seriously."
Recalling their bitter 2010 campaign, Boxer savaged Fiorina's business record, predicting "this Fiorina merger will be just as successful as her last one at HP."
"All I can say is she was rejected. She's run away from California," Boxer said. "So anyone who says she is going to get him votes - she left. She doesn't even live there anymore. It's not even her residence."

California Politico Playbook:

-- The downside: History. Fiorina went down by more than 1 million votes in a landslide defeat to incumbent Barbara Boxer in a 2010 Senate race. Before that, there was HP, source of those effective attacks about 30,000 layoffs at Hewlett Packard on her watch, followed by a $21 million golden parachute; and don't forget being named one of the 20 worst CEOs<http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7e1d5823f14b5eaef7ddc907152d1fd035bb5d75935e8dbb483b4cf0a5abcda3> of all time. Coming soon to your inbox: reminders of those failed Senate and presidential campaigns.

-- Link to CNN's rundown of Fiorina's troubled CEO history: http://cnnmon.ie/1SQkE3W<http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7e1d5823f14b5eae565bec61eeb2cc979f3c83cbe11026e8af500a45da2868bc>

-- Link to Boxer's past attack ads on Fiorina in Jack Pitney's blog: http://bit.ly/1Tx6x0b<http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7e1d5823f14b5eae573abc09e968ab054ef54396d6ebc9bb2ed8cdfb481b4cd3>

-- Doug Sovern @SovernNation "On conf call, @SenatorBoxer describes Cruz-Fiorina "ticket" as "mean and meaner," predicts this merger will be as successful as HP-Compaq"

-- Christopher Cadelago @ccadelago "What does the reemergence of @CarlyFiorina feel like for @SenatorBoxer: "It's like a bad dream."

-- "The Cruz Fiorina Ploy: A Cynical Play for CA Reeps,'' by Calbuzz's Jerry Roberts and Phil Trounstine: http://bit.ly/1WUeijJ<http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7e1d5823f14b5eae7c888f1924c35984dc6932553ac5f3767fa5994b0d359758>

-- QUOTE OF THE DAY -- From California Democratic Party Chair John Burton: "Sen. Ted Cruz's choice of Carly Fiorina to be his vice president is the last gasp of desperation for a campaign that is going nowhere. Are they going to run on his record of shutting down the government and denying climate science or on her record of exporting American jobs, tanking Hewlett Packard's stock price when she was CEO, and losing the 2010 California Senate race to Barbara Boxer by a million votes? It's a marriage made in heaven."

From: Garcia, Walter
Sent: Wednesday, April 27, 2016 7:03 PM
To: Garcia, Walter; Walker, Eric; Paustenbach, Mark; Comm_D
Subject: Re: Coverage of our press call

Carly Fiorina Criticized by 2010 Foe Barbara Boxer<http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2016/04/27/carly-fiorina-criticized-by-2010-foe-barbara-boxer/>
By Alejandro Lazo, Wall Street Journal

Sen. Barbara Boxer of California on Wednesday sharply criticized her 2010 Republican opponent, Carly Fiorina- whom Ted Cruz named Wednesday as his vice presidential running mate<http://www.wsj.com/articles/ted-cruz-to-name-carly-fiorina-as-running-mate-1461781460>-as a "mean" campaigner who moved out of the state after voters "rejected" her.

Ms. Boxer, who is stepping down next year from the U.S. Senate, defeated Ms. Fiorina 52% to 42% in 2010, during her last reelection battle-a year that saw many Republican victories elsewhere in the U.S.

Before Mr. Cruz named Ms. Fiorina as a running mate Wednesday, she had run a short-lived presidential campaign, dropping out of the race in February following poor showings in Iowa and New Hampshire.
In a conference call with reporters, Ms. Boxer criticized Ms. Fiorina's controversial tenure as chief executive of Hewlett Packard, where she expanded the company through the acquisition of Compaq Computer but also laid off 30,000 workers.  In 2005, she was fired by the board.

"The most accurate description of that team would be: mean and meaner," Ms. Boxer said of the Cruz-Fiorina pairing. "He wants to ship immigrants out of America, and she has already shipped jobs out of America, and they are the perfect duo, seriously."

"I would predict, actually, that this Fiorina merger will be just as successful as her last one at HP," Ms. Boxer said.

Ms. Fiorina, who is one of the few women to lead a large technology company, frames her HP tenure in a different light. She has said she successfully managed the company through a deep technology-industry downturn, and that her leadership ultimately saved jobs. She now has her primary resident in Virginia.

The Wall Street Journal took a deep look at Ms. Fiorina's business record last year<http://www.wsj.com/articles/fiorinas-h-p-tenure-a-disputed-legacy-1444179445>, and found that Ms. Fiorina's vision and marketing talent overshadowed her ability to deliver results, based on a review of the company's financials and interviews with contemporaries there.

Ms. Boxer said that Ms. Fiorina would not help Mr. Cruz in his attempt to gain votes in California's June 7 GOP primary, given Ms. Fiorina could not win her Senate race in 2010, a "year that was a very tough year for Democrats, believe me."

"All I can say is she was rejected," Ms. Boxer said. "She has run away from California, so anyone who says she is going to get him votes-she left. She doesn't even live there anymore; it is not even her residence."

From: Walter Garcia <[email-masked]<mailto:[email-masked]>>
Date: Wednesday, April 27, 2016 at 5:51 PM
To: "Walker, Eric" <[email-masked]<mailto:[email-masked]>>, "Paustenbach, Mark" <[email-masked]<mailto:[email-masked]>>, Comm_D <[email-masked]<mailto:[email-masked]>>
Subject: RE: Coverage of our press call

Cruz announces Fiorina as choice for running mate<http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/04/27/sources-cruz-to-announce-fiorina-as-choice-for-running-mate.html>
FoxNews.com<http://www.foxnews.com/>

Ted Cruz, looking for a shake-up in the 2016 race as Donald Trump moves steadily closer to the Republican nomination, on Wednesday announced former GOP primary rival Carly Fiorina as his choice for running mate should he win the party nod.
The move was immediately dismissed as an act of "desperation" by the Trump team, but Cruz - while acknowledging it is "unusual" to announce a running mate so early - defended the decision. He claimed "nobody is getting to 1,237 delegates," the number needed to clinch the nomination, and voters should "know what [they] will get."
"After a great deal of time and thought, 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.
Cruz, together now with Fiorina, was trying to fight Trump's narrative that the race is effectively "over," after the front-runner swept five primary states on Tuesday. But Fiorina, in accepting Cruz's offer, said she's ready to "fight."
"I've had tough fights all my life," Fiorina said. "Tough fights don't worry me a bit."
Cruz made the announcement in the critical primary turf of Indiana, which votes next Tuesday. Speaking at an afternoon rally in Indianapolis, Cruz announced his decision to cheers and chants of "Carly! Carly!" while touting the former HP CEO's credentials and life story.
The theoretical pairing represents a diverse ticket - offering the possibility of electing the first Hispanic president and first female vice president.
"This is a choice that you are telling the American people that 'This is an individual that I trust and, more important, this is an individual that you can trust to lead this country, no matter what might happen,'" Cruz said.
But for the time being, Fiorina will hold the odd position of being a vice presidential candidate-in-waiting - as Cruz continues to lag far behind Trump in the battle for the GOP nomination.
Even Fiorina would have to be elected by delegates at the convention. As for Cruz, he's already been mathematically eliminated from clinching the nomination before the convention, and is relying on the prospect of a Cleveland floor fight.
A highly visible Cruz surrogate, the former HP CEO recently handed over her tax returns to the Cruz campaign for vetting, CNN reported Tuesday, and her name immediately surfaced when Cruz teased a "major announcement" Wednesday morning.
Cruz said Wednesday that he and his family had grown so close to Fiorina that she often sings to his young daughters -- a skill she showed off during her speech -- and also exchanges texts with the young girls.
"And Carly may be the first vice president in American history to have an impressive fluency with hearts and smiley face emoticons," Cruz said.

Trump leads Cruz in pledged delegates, 954-562, but Cruz's strong ground operation has elected many delegate allies to the Republican Convention in July. Cruz believes the battle will proceed to a contested convention, where he hopes to triumph once some pledged delegates become unbound and are free to switch their votes.
Trump on Wednesday morning dismissed the notion of Cruz tapping a running mate.
"First of all, he shouldn't be naming anybody because he doesn't even have a chance," Trump said. "Naming Carly's dumb, because Carly didn't do well. She had one good debate -- not against me by the way, because I had an unblemished record of victories during debates -- but she had one victory on the smaller stage and that was it."
In a statement later Wednesday, Trump criticized the move as Cruz "only trying to stay relevant."
While most presidential candidates wait until they have the nomination sewn up to announce a running mate, Cruz's selection of a vice presidential candidate in April - while he's well behind in delegates - followed a pattern of somewhat unconventional campaigning including an early embrace of Trump and kicking off his campaign without first forming an exploratory committee.
Fiorina began her career working as a secretary and receptionist but quickly rose up the business ranks and was named in 1999 as the chief executive officer for Hewlett-Packard, becoming the first woman to lead a Fortune 20 company.
"Of all the people who didn't make it far in the race, she was one of the best about laying out her plan, talking about who she is and her accomplishments," said Doug De Groote, a fundraiser for Cruz based near Los Angeles.
On her website, Fiorina describes her tenure at HP as having "saved 80,000 jobs" during "the worst technology recession in 25 years." But her time at the helm also drew criticism for alleged deals with Iran brokered through a subsidiary and the laying off of 30,000 employees. In 2004, Fiorina left the company after the board of directors forced her resignation.
Her career as a political candidate began when Fiorina tried to unseat California Sen. Barbara Boxer during an unsuccessful 2010 bid. Boxer on Wednesday mocked the suggestion of Fiorina as Cruz's running mate.
"The best way to describe that ticket is mean and meaner," she said. "He wants to throw people out of the country and she threw thousands of jobs out of the country. Perfect match."
In May 2015, Fiorina announced her candidacy for president and quickly became known as a feisty critic of Hillary Clinton and a strong defender of the pro-life community. Planned Parenthood immediately panned Fiorina's Wednesday pairing with Cruz as "the most loathsome pair of anti-abortion extremists in America."
Her early debate performances were lauded by many critics; however, she never gained traction and suspended her campaign after single-digit finishes in Iowa and New Hampshire. She endorsed Cruz in early March and has appeared often with him on the campaign trail.
When asked about being Cruz's vice president in early March, Fiorina replied, "Let's win the nomination first."
Though she eventually threw her support behind Cruz, Fiorina also attacked him when she was still a competing candidate. She termed him one of the "ultimate insiders" and called him "too divisive" in January. She also criticized Cruz for saying "one thing in the drawing rooms of Manhattan and another thing in the living rooms of Iowa."

From: Walker, Eric
Sent: Wednesday, April 27, 2016 5:44 PM
To: Garcia, Walter; Paustenbach, Mark; Comm_D
Subject: RE: Coverage of our press call

Cate, Corrine - could be hook for the 'nightmare' video.

From: Garcia, Walter
Sent: Wednesday, April 27, 2016 5:43 PM
To: Paustenbach, Mark; Comm_D
Subject: RE: Coverage of our press call

Barbara Boxer on Carly Fiorina's re-emergence: 'It's like a bad dream'<http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-trailguide-04272016-sen-boxer-on-former-foe-fiorinas-re-emergence-1461791448-htmlstory.html>
MELANIE MASON<http://www.latimes.com/la-bio-melanie-mason-staff.html>, LOS ANGELES TIMES

At least one Californian isn't too thrilled by Ted Cruz's tapping Carly Fiorina<http://www.latimes.com/la-na-cruz-fiorina-20160427-story.html> to be his vice presidential running mate: Fiorina's former rival, Sen. Barbara Boxer.

Fiorina unsuccessfully challenged Boxer in 2010, and based on the senator's remarks to reporters Wednesday, the rivalry hasn't subsided six years later.

Boxer dubbed a Cruz-Fiorina ticket "mean and meaner."

"He wants to ship immigrants out of America, and she's already shipped jobs out of America," Boxer said. "They're the perfect duo.

"I predict this Fiorina merger will be just as successful as her last one at HP," she added, a jab at the rocky merger with Compaq<http://www.latimes.com/la-na-politics-fiorina-business-20150925-story.html> that Fiorina oversaw as chief of Hewlett-Packard.

Boxer dismissed the idea that Fiorina would boost Cruz's prospects in California.

"The people of California rejected Carly Fiorina in a year that was a very tough year for Democrats," said Boxer, calling Fiorina "a very mean opponent."

"The bottom line is they rejected her," Boxer said. "Now she's coming back again. It's like a bad dream."

But Boxer did see an upside to Fiorina's resurgence in the headlines: "It only keeps reminding people that I beat her by a million votes, and I love that."

From: Paustenbach, Mark
Sent: Wednesday, April 27, 2016 5:42 PM
To: Garcia, Walter; Comm_D
Subject: RE: Coverage of our press call

Mark Paustenbach
National Press Secretary &
Deputy Communications Director
Democratic National Committee
W: 202.863.8148
[email-masked]<mailto:[email-masked]>

From: Garcia, Walter
Sent: Wednesday, April 27, 2016 5:37 PM
To: Comm_D
Subject: RE: Coverage of our press call

The Latest: Boxer calls Cruz-Fiorina ticket mean and meaner<https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/the-latest-trump-wont-commit-to-toning-down-his-campaign/2016/04/27/d046d5f6-0c73-11e6-bc53-db634ca94a2a_story.html>
By Associated Press
California Sen. Barbara Boxer says Carly Fiorina is the perfect running mate for Republican presidential hopeful Ted Cruz - she calls them "mean and meaner."

On a conference call Wednesday she told reporters Cruz wants to ship immigrants out and Fiorina "already shipped jobs out of America."

The California Democrat faced Fiorina in a nasty Senate race in 2010.

She joked that having Fiorina back on the national stage reminds everyone she beat the former Hewlett Packard chief executive by 1 million votes in 2010 "and I love that."

House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rep. Xavier Becerra says he welcomes the three Republican presidential hopefuls to this weekend's state GOP convention.

He says the won't need ID to enter the state, but they should bring California values of hard word, innovation and diversity.

From: Garcia, Walter
Sent: Wednesday, April 27, 2016 5:28 PM
To: Comm_D
Subject: Coverage of our press call

TED CRUZ NAMES CARLY FIORINA AS RUNNING MATE<http://abc7ny.com/politics/ted-cruz-names-carly-fiorina-as-running-mate/1311836/>

By SCOTT BAUER and STEVE PEOPLES

Republican presidential contender Ted Cruz has tapped former technology executive Carly Fiorina to serve as his running mate.

The Texas senator unveiled his pick for vice president Wednesday afternoon in Indianapolis, calling her an "extraordinary leader" who has "shattered glass ceilings" in business and politics.

The announcement comes the day after Cruz lost five states to GOP front-runner Donald Trump. The 61-year-old Fiorina previously served as the chief executive of Hewlett-Packard, but has never held elected office. She was the only woman in the GOP's crowded presidential field before dropping out of the race earlier in the year.

Cruz says Fiorina excelled in the "hard-scrabble" male-dominated business world.

"Of all the people who didn't make it far in the race, she was one of the best about laying out her plan, talking about who she is and her accomplishments," said Doug De Groote, a fundraiser for Cruz based near Los Angeles.

It was an unusual move for a candidate who is far from becoming his party's presumptive nominee, but Cruz is desperate to generate momentum for his struggling campaign.

Some Cruz allies praised the selection of Fiorina, but privately questioned if it would change the trajectory of the race. Trump has won 77 percent of the delegates he needs to claim the nomination, and a win next week in Indiana will keep him on a firm path to do so.

"Carly has incredible appeal to so many people, especially in California," De Groote said. "She can really help him here."

Her first major foray into politics was in 2010, when she ran for Senate in California and lost to incumbent Sen. Barbara Boxer by 10 percentage points. She has never held elected office.

Trump criticized a Fiorina pick as "ridiculous" and "dumb" even before it was announced.

"First of all, he shouldn't be naming anybody because he doesn't even have a chance," the New York billionaire said in a Wednesday interview on Fox News.

"Naming Carly's dumb, because Carly didn't do well. She had one good debate - not against me by the way, because I had an unblemished record of victories during debates - but she had one victory on the smaller stage and that was it," Trump said.

He added, "She's a nice woman. I think that it's not going to help him at all."

Throughout her presidential bid, Fiorina emphasized her meteoric rise in the business world. A Stanford University graduate, she started her career as a secretary, earned an MBA and worked her way up at AT&T to become a senior executive at the telecom leader.

She was also dogged by questions about her record at Hewlett-Packard, where she was hired as CEO in 1999. She was fired six years later, after leading a major merger with Compaq and laying off 30,000 workers.

Democrats quickly attacked the Cruz-Fiorina alliance.

"The best way to describe that ticket is mean and meaner," said Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., who beat Fiorina for Senate in 2010. "He wants to throw people out of the country and she threw thousands of jobs out of the country. Perfect match."

In an Associated Press-GfK poll conducted in December 2015, Republican voters were more likely to say they had a favorable than an unfavorable view of Fiorina by a 47 percent to 20 percent margin, with 32 percent unable to give a rating.

Among all Americans, 45 percent didn't know enough about Fiorina to rate her, while 22 percent rated her favorably and 32 percent unfavorably.

By contrast, both Cruz and Trump have high negative ratings even within their own party, according to an April AP-GfK poll. Among Republican voters, 52 percent have a favorable and 41 percent have an unfavorable opinion of Cruz, while 53 percent have a favorable and 46 percent have an unfavorable opinion of Trump.

Among all Americans, 59 percent had an unfavorable opinion of Cruz and 69 percent said that of Trump.
--

Walter Garcia
Western Regional Press Secretary
Democratic National Committee (DNC)
Email: [email-masked]<mailto:[email-masked]>
Twitter: @WalterGarcia231<https://twitter.com/WalterGarcia231>
[SigDems]<http://www.democrats.org/>