Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz announced that Carly Fiorina will be his vice presidential running mate if he is the GOP nominee for president. Here are four reasons she makes sense for that role. (Sarah Parnass/The Washington Post) 
 
 Ted Cruz named Carly Fiorina as his vice presidential pick in the event he becomes the GOP nominee at a campaign event in Indianapolis on Wednesday. 
 
 So, why is Cruz picking Fiorina? And why is he announcing it now? 
 
 The second question is easier to answer. Cruz and his team understand that after the primary votes over the past two weeks, any momentum he might have had following Wisconsin on April 5 is now gone. And all of it has gone to Donald Trump who now looks damn-near unstoppable in his quest to become the GOP's nominee. 
 
 Given that reality, Cruz needs to change the narrative of the race. Immediately. There are five and a half days until the Indiana primary and if Cruz loses to Trump there the nomination fight will be effectively over. And if nothing changes in the race in the Hoosier State, Cruz will lose. 
 
 Announcing Fiorina is a big swing at story-changing. Cruz has to hope that the coverage over the next few days — both in Indiana and nationally — will focus on Fiorina and why it was smart of him to pick her. Every second that cable TV and local media outlets spend talking about Cruz and Carly is a second that Trump doesn't dominate the conversation. And what recent history has told us is that when Trump dominates the conversation, he almost always wins. 
 
 This is rightly understood as a desperate attempt to re-take the momentum in the race before it's too late. To Cruz's credit, he's trying it. (I'm a big believer in leaving it all out on the field. If you are going to lose, lose with all of your best plays called. Or something.) 
 
 
 
 Ted Cruz shakes hands with Carly Fiorina (Carlo Allegri/Reuters) 
 
 Now to the first question: Why Fiorina? 
 
 Let's take as a given that since Fiorina's campaign ended and she endorsed Cruz on March 9, the two have found out that they have a genuine rapport and share a vision for the country. And let's also assume that Fiorina has passed some sort of basic (or more-than-basic) vet by the Cruz campaign. (Remember that Fiorina not only ran for president in 2016 but also ran for Senate in 2010.) 
 
 What else does she bring Cruz? In order of importance: 
 
 * A woman. Trump's numbers among female voters — especially in a general election — are disastrous. Cruz has struggled to drive that message home in the primary but is clearly hoping that by elevating Fiorina to I'll-pick-her-if-I-can-pick-anyone status that Fiorina can help reach female voters who the Texas senator needs, not just in Indiana but going forward in the race. 
 
 * A Californian. Fiorina is a known commodity in California Republican circles due in large part to her 2010 Senate campaign which, although she lost, got better post-campaign reviews than the gubernatorial effort run by fellow wealthy businesswoman Meg Whitman. Cruz is banking on Fiorina as an able surrogate for him in California — both in front of the camera and behind the scenes — in advance of the state's June 7 primary. By that point, Trump should be nearing the 1,237 delegates he needs to be the nominee, and depriving him of a handful here and there in California congressional districts may be Cruz's only option. He believes Fiorina can help that cause. 
 
 * An attack dog. This works on a near-term and long-term basis. In the near term, Cruz now has an attack dog who has proven to be relatively effective in battling Trump. Fiorina's reputation on that front is largely built on a single exchange during a CNN-sponsored debate in September 2015 in which she appeared to get the better of the real estate mogul who has made comments about her face. (Yes, really.) 
 
 Long term — meaning if Cruz is the nominee — Fiorina is a potentially potent weapon to attack Hillary Clinton. In fact, during her own presidential campaign, Fiorina was, by far, the most willing to hit Clinton on personal matters — an approach she would likely continue if/when she was formally the Republican Party's vice presidential nominee. And, as a woman, Cruz likely believes Fiorina would have more leeway and be more effective in those attacks. 
 
 None of it is unreasonable. And if Cruz is going to pick a VP this far in advance of the party convention — and with so little certainty that he will ever actually be in a position to pick a second in command — he could do worse than Fiorina. 
 
 But make no mistake: This is a Hail Mary pass. It, like the deal that Cruz and John Kasich cut earlier this week, amounts to a tacit acknowledgment that if nothing changes in the race Trump is going to win. 
 
 Could it work? Sure. Sometimes Hail Marys get caught. But usually they get knocked down and the other team starts celebrating. ||||| (CNN) Ted Cruz formally named Carly Fiorina as his vice presidential running mate Wednesday -- a last-ditch move to regain momentum after being mathematically eliminated from winning the GOP presidential nomination outright. 
 
 "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 during a rally in Indianapolis. 
 
 Fiorina joined the Texas senator on stage, and Cruz's staff changed the podium in between Cruz and Fiorina's remarks to display a new logo featuring both their names. 
 
 "Ted could not be more right in what he said: There is a lot at stake, and in fact, this is a fight, this is a fight for the soul of our party and the future of our nation," Fiorina said. "I've had tough fights all my life. Tough fights don't worry me a bit." 
 
 Fiorina told CNN in an interview the "real formal final conversation" between the two of them regarding the vice presidential decision happened Tuesday. 
 
 "Everything about this campaign, everything about this election, is unprecedented," Fiorina said. "Let's face it, these are unprecedented times, we face unprecedented challenges and dangers. I think this is a confident leader who knows what he wants to do for this nation and who wants the nation to understand who he is, what he believes and who he wants by his side to fight this fight on behalf of the American people." 
 
 Cruz is trying to recapture the narrative and keep himself relevant after Trump seized momentum in the 2016 race with a sweep of all five East Coast states on Tuesday, which puts him closer to having enough delegates to win the Republican nomination. The unusual move from the Cruz campaign also comes just hours after the billionaire businessman, who is trying to look like the presumptive nominee, gave a high-profile scripted speech on foreign policy. 
 
 Indiana votes Tuesday in the next GOP contest. Cruz must have a strong showing in the Hoosier State to help block Trump from securing the 1,237 delegates necessary to win the nomination, and keep alive his hopes of a contested Republican National Convention 
 
 During her remarks Wednesday, Fiorina described how she had grown close to the Cruz family since endorsing his presidential bid, including singing a few bars from an original song describing her affection for Cruz's daughters. 
 
 "I have watched Ted and Heidi: They are partners, they're a couple that rely on each other," Fiorina said. 
 
 JUST WATCHED Cruz is vetting VP candidates, including Fiorina Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Cruz is vetting VP candidates, including Fiorina 05:10 
 
 Trump responded to the news of Fiorina's selection in typical fashion -- using a tweet, which featured a clip of Fiorina criticizing Cruz on CNN earlier this year. 
 
 "Ted Cruz is just like any other politician; he says whatever he needs to say to get elected," Fiorina says in the four-second clip. Trump's tweet included the caption, "Agreed!" 
 
 Trump later called the pick "a desperate attempt to save a failing campaign by an all talk, no action politician." 
 
 "The people of Indiana are very smart -- they will see through this just like they saw through the already failed Kasich alliance," Trump said in a statement. "Cruz has no path to victory -- he is only trying to stay relevant." 
 
 Fiorina built her ill-fated presidential bid around her business experience as former president of Hewlett-Packard, a company she led from 1999 to 2005. She also ran for Senate in California in 2010 against Democrat Barbara Boxer. But during her tenure at HP, she led a divisive merger with Compaq and criticism of her leadership of the company was a key focus of Boxer's effective campaign against Fiorina. 
 
 Fiorina frequently sparred with Trump during the primary. Trump was quoted in a Rolling Stone profile as complaining about Fiorina's looks when she appeared on the television he was watching, saying, "Look at that face!" 
 
 Trump later argued he was referring to her "persona." 
 
 She turned the attack into an asset, calmly responding to Trump during a CNN Republican debate, that she believed "every woman" in America knew what Trump was referring to in his Rolling Stone comments. 
 
 Cruz referenced the incident during his comments Wednesday. 
 
 "I have seen her day in, day out, on the campaign bus, going from stop to stop to stop that she is careful, she is measured, she is serious, she doesn't get overly excited, she doesn't get rattled by whatever is thrown at her," Cruz said. "And you know, we all saw that when in one of the earliest debates, Carly confronted Donald Trump, a man who in his characteristic understatement said of her: 'Look at that face.'" 
 
 Fiorina revived her attack of Trump in her interview with CNN, referencing comments the billionaire said Tuesday night claiming Hillary Clinton would not be doing as well if she were not a woman. 
 
 "Look, I disagree with Hillary Clinton on every issue," Fiorina said. "That is why she cannot be president of the United States. I am very proud to be a woman. But I would never ask people to vote for me because I'm a woman. Ted Cruz didn't pick me because I'm a woman, Ted Cruz picked me because I'm a capable individual. Donald Trump's comments on women are frequently things I find either irrelevant or offensive." 
 
 Typically, candidates do not name vice presidential picks until after they are the presumptive nominee and soon before the convention. But Cruz is pinning his hopes on a contested GOP convention -- and after a disastrous two weeks of Northeast contests where Cruz netted just five delegates. 
 
 Fiorina also spent much of her time on the trail attacking Democratic front-runner Clinton, drawing a contrast with the former secretary of state as the only woman on the Republican side. Cruz has highlighted that tactic on the trail with Fiorina, saying Clinton would be terrified of Fiorina. 
 
 Vice presidential speculation heated up this week after Cruz confirmed his campaign was vetting Fiorina as a running mate. Fiorina is well-liked by Cruz's staff and has campaigned with him more than any other surrogate, and has spoken for him with reporters.
– Ted Cruz's big 4pm announcement? As sources told Politico in advance that he would, he named Carly Fiorina as his vice presidential running mate. "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, per CNN. Politico calls Fiorina one of "Cruz's most loyal and active surrogates" since she ended her own presidential bid. Cruz made the announcement in Indiana, where he's campaigning this week in advance of Tuesday's primary.