Carly Fiorina: Ted Cruz can stop Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton

I ran for president because I believe it is time to take our country back from Washington and restore

power to the people. I still believe that. In fact, I believe it more than ever. It is time to challenge and reform the system that has put too much economic and political power in the hands of too few. It is time to put a real constitutional conservative in the White House.
My husband and I live in Virginia where we had a primary recently. While my own name was on the ballot, I checked the box for Ted Cruz.
Ted Cruz is a leader and a reformer who isn’t afraid to ruffle feathers when he is fighting for the American people.
When Republicans lost the last presidential election, the Republican establishment thought it knew just what to do: Pass comprehensive immigration reform. Stop talking about “social issues.” Go along and get along. Rather than fight for real change, they stood by as our government grew increasingly incompetent and corrupt.
But they didn't count on Ted Cruz. They didn’t predict that against all the odds, Texas had just elected a Senator who is a true constitutional conservative, a real reformer, and who definitely doesn’t care if the Washington cartel invites him to their cocktail parties.
We need a constitutional conservative to unite our party. Ted has spent his life defending the Constitution. My father was a conservative judge on the very liberal ninth circuit. 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 for decades — whether it’s for religious liberty, our right to keep and bear arms or American sovereignty. And he has won.
We need a leader and a reformer to challenge the system in Washington and fix the festering problems — whether it’s our broken immigration system or the IRS. Throughout my career, I have learned that if you are a real leader, you absolutely must challenge the status quo. Sometimes you make enemies. It’s the price of leadership. But it’s also the way to deflate the bloated bureaucracy and return prosperity to the people.
That’s exactly what Ted Cruz will do. He’ll grow opportunities not for the government but for the hardworking men and women who are the heart and soul of this great nation. He will abolish the IRS, end the loopholes for Washington’s special interests and set one low rate of 10% for all individuals. When April 15 comes, you can simply fill out your taxes on a postcard and carry on with your real work.
And rather than choking Americans’ innovation and entrepreneurial spirit, Ted Cruz will clean out the excess spending and regulations in Washington, starting with Obamacare. He will audit the Fed and restore a stable dollar. When we do that, we will open up an economic landscape that welcomes new ideas, free enterprise and booming job creation.
As a result of tax, regulatory and monetary reform, rather than millions of Americans facing no job prospects, or stuck in low-paying jobs with no hope of a raise, we will see 4.8 million new jobs created and double-digit increase in take-home pay for Americans across the board, according to the Tax Foundation.
That’s the economic opportunity we can achieve if we challenge the status quo. Yet some in our party are saying they’d prefer a liberal like Donald Trump because he is a deal maker. He has indeed mastered the deal: Donald buys politicians like Hillary Clinton and continues only to serve the big, powerful and well-connected.
Donald Trump can’t reform the system; he’s part of it. In fact, if we judge a leader on his record, we know what he’ll do: use public power for private gain. We’ve had seven years of that, and we don’t need a single year more.
If we want to defeat Donald Trump, we must defeat him by offering citizens conservative solutions to the problems in their lives.
Ted Cruz is the only candidate who can beat Donald Trump — and who can do so by laying out an optimistic vision of the future — one that recognizes the dignity, purpose, meaning of each person and enables them to reach their potential. That’s the way to beat Donald, and it’s the way to defeat Hillary come November.
We need a candidate who will stand for working Americans and who will restore freedom and prosperity by championing conservative principles. We need a nominee who will never settle for the status quo, and who will unite conservatives, Republicans, and all Americans who want to unlock a future filled with promise or our kids and grand-kids.
It’s time we take our party back, our government back, our country back. It is time to unite behind Ted Cruz. I ask you to join me so that together we reform Washington and restore prosperity to Americans across this country.
Carly Fiorina is the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard.

Ted Cruz Hits Miami with One Cruel Goal

MOTHER JONES

Ted Cruz isn't waiting until next week for the demise of Florida Sen. Marco Rubio's presidential campaign. The morning after the Texas senator finished second to GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump in three states (Mississippi, Michigan, and Hawaii) and won a fourth (Idaho), Cruz kicked off the next stretch of the campaign with a rally in Rubio's backyard—Miami—and he did not come in peace.

As many political observers have noted, Cruz's pivot toward the Sunshine State is apparently motivated by one impulse: to finish off Rubio. Florida is a winner-take-all state, and Cruz is not seen as a strong bet to beat Trump there. Under conventional calculations, there would not be much reason for Cruz to spend time and resources in the state. But Cruz apparently has another goal in mind: to take away votes from Rubio and crush his last-ditch hopes to win his home state and remain a player in the presidential race.

At the rally, Cruz let his opening act handle most of the knife-work. "Floridians are abandoning Marco Rubio," declared Miami-Dade GOP vice-chair Manny Roman, a Cuban-American who was censured by his local party committee last year for breaking ranks and endorsing Cruz. He rattled off the results of Tuesday's elections and said, "I'm calling on Marco Rubio, especially after last night, to suspend his campaign and endorse Ted Cruz." The crowd roared with delight.

Then it was Cruz's turn. He boasted of his victory in Idaho, and he told the gathering—which was comprised of Rubio's base voters (conservative, Hispanic Miami-Dade County Republicans)—that the man whom they had elected senator six years ago was toast. "There are only two candidates this race that have any plausible path of getting to 1237 [delegates]," Cruz proclaimed. It was a "clear two-man race," he noted, making his now-familiar case that it's time for the party to unify between the one candidate left who can beat Trump. That is, himself: "It's easy to talk about the party coming together, but talk without action, words without action are empty."

Cruz announced the presence of a special guest: a former Republican presidential candidate with business experience and a long record of talking about foreign policy. No, it wasn't Mitt Romney, but onetime Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina. Before dropping out of the race, Fiorina had once observed that Cruz was someone who "says whatever he needs to say to get elected." But that was now forgotten. She was greeted warmly by the Cruz supporters. Talking about last week's Virginia primary, Fiorina said, "I saw my own name on the ballot—it was kind of a thrill. But then I checked the box for Ted Cruz."

Miami-Dade Republicans were likely not waiting for Fiorina to endorse a candidate before deciding how to vote. But with Rubio desperately seeking a miracle win in Florida, Cruz, who lags in third in the polls here, seems determined to make certain Rubio loses—even if that means Trump bags all the state's delegates.

To use a historical analogy, Rubio is Mufasa, desperately clinging to the edge of a cliff to escape the unexpected stampede of wildebeests. And Cruz flew all the way down to Florida...to push him off.

Cruz, Trump split Republican primaries, Sanders wins two from Clinton

Republican presidential hopeful Ted Cruz won by wide margins over front-runner Donald Trump in party caucuses in the US states of Kansas and Maine Saturday, but Trump prevailed in two other states.

The latest results in the state-by-state presidential nominating process failed to bring resolution to the race that has seen Trump's upstart campaign gather a strong following even as the party establishment has sought to stop his rise.

Meanwhile, Democratic dark horse Bernie Sanders defeated Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Midwestern states of Kansas and Nebraska.

Saturday's primary elections in five states - four for Republicans and three for Democrats - were the first since Super Tuesday, in which a dozen states voted and solidified the front-runner status of both Trump and Clinton to head the two main parties for the November election.

Trump beat Cruz in the southern state of Louisiana with 41 per cent to 38, and in Kentucky with 36 per cent to 32.

Clinton also won the Democratic contest in Louisiana by 71 per cent to Sanders' 23 per cent.

Both Trump and Cruz called for the field of four candidates to narrow and allow them to face off against each other.

"As long as the field remains divided, it gives Donald an advantage," Cruz said.

Trump called specifically on trailing rival Marco Rubio to drop out.

"Marco Rubio had a very bad night and personally I'd call on him to drop out of the race," Trump said. "I think it's time. You've got to be able to win."

"I'd love to take on Ted one on one," he said, claiming that Cruz would not be able to win primary contests in large states like New York and California. Cruz meanwhile maintains that the party would unite with him against Trump.

In Kansas, Cruz won 48 per cent of ballots to Trump's 23 per cent, party officials said. Rubio had 17 per cent and Ohio Governor John Kasich had 11 per cent.

Both Rubio and Kasich are counting on wins in their home states of Florida and Ohio later this month to breathe life back into their campaigns. Both are key electoral states in US elections.

In Maine, Cruz won 46 per cent to Trump's 33 per cent. Kasich was third with 12 per cent and Rubio took only 8 per cent, party officials said.

The Republican establishment has been struggling to prevent outsider Trump from seizing the conservative party's nomination, and Cruz's victories Saturday helped to bolster his claims as the conservative alternative.

Cruz also received a psychological boost from a survey of conservative activists meeting outside Washington who named him their choice for president.

Poor showings for Rubio damaged his claim as the establishment favourite, despite endorsements by many prominent party lawmakers.

Trump has remained well ahead in Republican polls, though he has not yet amassed enough delegates to put him entirely out of reach of his competitors.

This week both Mitt Romney and John McCain, the 2012 and 2008 Republican presidential nominees respectively, spoke forcefully against Trump being the nominee.

In the Democratic races, Clinton leads voter surveys over Sanders, and also leads in the tally of delegates needed to secure the nomination during a party convention in July.

Sanders won 68 per cent of the vote in Kansas caucuses to Clinton's 32 per cent. In neighbouring Nebraska, he won 55 per cent to Clinton's 45 per cent.

However in Louisiana, where there are more minority voters loyal to Clinton, she secured 70 per cent of the vote.

Trump calls on Rubio to drop out of GOP race for a battle with Ted

WASHINGTON, March 5 (UPI) -- Donald Trump called on Florida Sen. Marco Rubio to drop out of the Republican race for the presidency Saturday night after splitting victories with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz in four contests.
Cruz beat Trump in the Kansas and Maine caucuses, while Trump narrowly won the Louisiana primary and Kentucky caucus before telling supporters it is now a two-man race for the Republican nomination. Rubio and Ohio Gov. John Kasich did not come close to a second place finish in any of them.

"I want Ted one-on-one, OK?" Trump said in a victory speech from West Palm Beach not long after the Kentucky race was called in his favor.
Although Trump emphasized he'd had a "really good" night -- he beat Cruz in Kentucky by 4.3 points and in Louisiana by 3.7 points -- Cruz's 25-point win in Kansas and 13-point win in Maine were by bigger gaps and netted the Texas senator more of the 155 delegates at stake in Saturday's contests.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Ohio Gov. John Kasich battled for third place in all four of the races, and neither got within 10 points of Trump or Cruz.
Cruz maintained a nearly 25-point lead over Trump in Kansas most of the night, taking 48.2 percent of the vote to Trump's 23.3 percent, according to Politico. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Ohio Gov. John Kasich were in third and fourth with 16.7 percent and 10.7 percent.
Turnout was reportedly so high in the Kansas and Kentucky contests that poll workers starting counting votes early because of concerns they would run late as a result of the long lines.
In Maine, Cruz beat Trump by 13.3 points, 45.9 percent to 32.6 percent, with Kasich coming in third at 12.2 percent and Rubio last with 8 percent.
Maine also saw a large voter turnout as more than triple the number of GOP voters participated in the caucuses this year -- nearly 19,000 -- compared to just over 5,000 in 2012, the Maine Republican Party reported Saturday night.
Trump saw leads in both Louisiana and Kentucky narrow as votes were counted, eventually winning Louisiana 41.5 percent to Cruz's 37.8 percent. Rubio finished third with 11.2 percent.
Kentucky was the last of the four GOP races to be called, with Trump's lead narrowing even closer, overtaking Cruz by 4.3 points, 35.9 percent to 31.6 percent. Rubio came in third in Kentucky as well, nabbing 16.4 percent of the vote.
Voter turnout in Kentucky was said to be so heavy they started counting votes early, though the contest there had been plagued by complaints and confusion all day, the Louisville Courier-Journal reported.
Kentucky moved from a primary to caucus ahead of the 2016 election so that Sen. Rand Paul would be able to run for the presidential nomination while hedging his bets and remaining in the state's Senate race in case his presidential campaign stalled-out -- which it did, several weeks ago.
Cruz told reporters in Idaho after the Kansas win that it appeared Republicans were beginning to line up behind him against Donald Trump, saying "if Donald Trump wins the nomination, Hillary Clinton is going to be president."
Cruz won the straw poll among party leaders at the Conservative Political Action Conference, taking 40 percent of the vote, to 30 percent for Rubio, 15 percent for Trump and 8 percent for Kasich, The Hill reported.
In recent days, members of the GOP establishment have attempted to marshal a resistance to Trump's upstart campaign dominating the nomination fight thus far, bringing out Mitt Romney to speak against him as the other candidates began to also speak out more forcefully against him during the March 3 debate.
The reaction had been building in the days leading up to the Republican debate as attacks started pouring in against Trump from the party -- which he has started to warn could hurt in the general election in the fall.
Trump skipped CPAC, where GOP establishment figures, including Romney, leaders took turns Friday questioning Trump's conservative credentials and criticizing his campaign methods, nearly begging voters to oppose him, the New York Times reported.
While some in the party say they agree with the former presidential nominee, many others -- some who support Trump and some who don't -- questioned the wisdom of fracturing the party because its power structure and voters appear to disagree on a nominee.
"The Republicans are eating their own," Trump said at a rally in Wichita, according to the Washington Post. "They've got to be very careful. We have to bring things together."
Trump continued to make the point during his victory speech, saying if establishment Republicans run a third-party candidate against him as is openly being discussed, "it will make it impossible for the Republican nominee to win."
"What's happening is a movement, and it wouldn't be happening without me," Trump said. "As a party, we should come together and stop this foolishness."

Cruz spoils Trump’s Super Saturday 'I want Ted, one on one,' Trump says as rival emerges as main alternative to the front-runner.

By POLITICO Magazine

Ted Cruz delivered two crushing defeats on Saturday and denied Donald Trump big wins everywhere, rounding up a delegate haul he hopes will drive low-polling rivals toward the exit.

Cruz scored huge upsets, easily taking Kansas with 48.2 percent of the vote to Trump’s 23.3 percent and Maine, notching 45.8 percent to Trump’s 32.6 percent.

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Trump eked out narrow wins in Kentucky -- 35 percent to 31 percent – and in Louisiana, with about 42 percent to Cruz’s 37 percent.

“We saw on Tuesday, the Super Tuesday results that were extraordinary. And today on Super Saturday, we seem to be seeing a continuation of that very same path,” Cruz told supporters gathered in Idaho, which will vote March 8.

“What we’re seeing is conservatives coming together," he said.

It’s a common refrain from the senator, who has relentlessly argued that he is the only viable alternative to Trump. Saturday's results offered evidence he could be right, as he narrowed the delegate gap between his campaign and Trump's and showed a better ability to get conservative voters to the polls than his competitors.

Trump agreed, calling on Marco Rubio to drop out and welcoming a two-man contest with Cruz.

“I want Ted, one on one" Trump told supporters gathered in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Of the five states that have held GOP caucuses so far, this is Cruz’s fourth win, and his sixth primary contest overall. On Tuesday, he scored his home state of Texas, as well as Alaska and Oklahoma, and in February won the Iowa caucuses.

All of Saturday’s contests required participants to be registered as Republicans, with some states having earlier deadlines for that registration than others.

That hurt Trump, who has shown an ability to turn out cross-over voters with little previous record of participation.

John Kasich and Marco Rubio were left in the dust on Saturday – each notching few delegates, and Rubio being shut out completely in Maine, where he failed to jump the 10 percent hurdle.

Still, Rubio said this is exactly as his team expected and dismissed chatter that he might lose his home state of Florida on March 15.

“Tonight we will have more delegates than we did last night,” Rubio told supporters and reporters in Puerto Rico. “This map only gets better for us.”

“We’re gonna win Florida and you’ll find out on March 15 how confident we are,” he said.

Candidates have a handful of opportunities to rack up delegates in Hawaii, Idaho, Michigan and Mississippi, as well as in some territories, before the winner-take-all contests of March 15, when Trump threatens to sweep many of the big states in his march toward the Republican National Convention.

Kasich and Rubio, at this point, have no path but a brokered convention while the Cruz campaign insists it doesn't see one happening. Keeping Trump’s delegate totals down this week could prolong the nomination process, though any delegate deficit could also be compensated for on March 15.

On Saturday, a total of 155 delegates was up for grabs, all awarded proportionally. That’s the same amount that was allocated by Texas alone last Tuesday, but it is not an insignificant number: it’s also more delegates than were offered during all of February.

“This is a race that’s completely unpredictable, and every delegate matters,” said Ryan Williams, a GOP consultant familiar with the delegate process after serving as a spokesman on Mitt Romney’s 2012 campaign. “These contests matter, in terms of the delegate math, for each candidate. You want to pick up as many as you can before moving into winner-take-all states.”

Cruz invested time and resources organizing both Kansas and Maine, rolling out leadership teams and making last-minute visits (he visited Louisiana and had a ground game there as well).

Cruz’s win in Maine came despite the endorsement Trump received from Gov. Paul LePage, and in Kansas despite the backing Rubio received from major GOP heavyweights, including Gov. Sam Brownback and former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole. Trump’s troubles in those two states also stemmed from the fact that he has shown vulnerability in organization-heavy caucus states, previously losing Iowa and Alaska to Cruz and Minnesota to Rubio.

The calendar has taken candidates from Wichita, Kan. to Bangor, Maine this weekend. Cruz, hoping to shrink the delegate gap with Trump after winning three states on Super Tuesday, has kept up a hectic schedule, hitting conservative towns and suburbs.