Julia Azari, FiveThirtyEight.com – April 28, 2016
Ted Cruz picked Carly Fiorina as his running mate on Wednesday. There are lots of reasons that Cruz might have made this unconventional choice — to announce a running mate a day after getting swept in five primaries and while he has little chance at the Republican nomination. Media attention is the most obvious one (you know, some media people are dropping everything to write articles about the move). Donald Trump has been a master of dominating the news cycle, thanks largely to outrageous comments and unconventional campaign moves, and perhaps Cruz would like to try his hand at that approach.