Could Carly Fiorina Be Ted Cruz's Vice President?

On Tuesday, former Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina endorsed Ted Cruz, suggesting she could possibly be his running mate. Appearing alongside Cruz as he campaigns in the crucial state of Florida, Fiorina formally threw her weight behind the Texas senator. While Fiorina had been tight-lipped about who she had voted for in her own state of Virginia last week on Super Tuesday, she said today, "I checked the box for Ted Cruz and I am here to tell you why."

Addressing the crowd in Miami, Fiorina made it clear that she was very much on the anti-Trump train. In fact, Cruz's ability to beat current GOP frontrunner Donald Trump appeared to be one of the prime — if not the standout — reason Fiorina was endorsing him. "Of course, there are also many Republicans who are now horrified at the prospect of Donald Trump as our nominee. I am one of them," she told the crowd. "The only way to beat Donald Trump is to beat him at the ballot box. And guess what, the only guy who can beat Donald Trump, who has beaten Donald Trump is Ted Cruz."

In fact, Fiorina spent a considerable amount of her endorsement speech bashing Trump — nearly as much as praising Cruz. "Some in our party are saying they'd prefer a liberal like Donald Trump because he is a deal maker. We've had enough of the deals, enough of the cronyism. Donald Trump buys politicians like Hillary Clinton and then we are surprised when Washington continues only to serve the big, the powerful, the wealthy, and the well-connected," she said.

Still, Fiorina made a point to play up Cruz's conservative potentials and to portray him as a defender of the Constitution and a hero to take on the powerful and the elite. "It takes someone of true principles and convictions like my dad and like Ted Cruz to stick to their guns. Ted has been fighting these fights--whether it's for religious liberty or our individual right to keep and bear arms or American sovereignty. And he has won," she said. Attempting to defend Cruz's notorious reputation as one of the most disliked politicians (even by members of his own party), Fiorina said, "Ted Cruz has made enemies by taking on the political class. They're scared we found our guy."

Is this endorsement, especially when so much of the Republican establishment initially threw their support behind Marco Rubio, be the ultimate sign that Fiorina is gunning to be Cruz's running mate — or that Cruz may have already granted her that spot in exchange for her support? Fiorina was barely competitive in the race for the GOP nomination by the time Americans actually cast their votes, so it's not clear how much her support will help Cruz. Still, there's the obvious fact that Fiorina is a woman, a fact conservative radio host Steve Deace felt compelled to remind us of when he described her as going "full vagina" during the fifth Republican debate. Having a woman on the Republican ticket could be considered not only an advantage but a must in the national election if Hillary Clinton seals the Democratic nomination.

Admittedly, Cruz is still a long way off from even getting to the point where he'd have the opportunity to pick a running mate. But maybe with Fiorina's support he might get there.