The right-wing’s dynamic duo has arrived: after much speculation, Ted Cruz confirmed Wednesday at a rally in Indianapolis that former candidate Carly Fiorina would be his running mate. If this announcement seems premature, that’s because candidates don’t normally choose their number twos until after they have actually ensured their position as the nominee. However, as the outlook for Cruz’s nomination looks increasingly grim day by day, Fiorina may provide him with a much-needed (but probably too late) bump in the polls. The former HP executive endorsed Cruz after dropping out of the race in February, saying that he was the only candidate with the potential to beat Trump.

After this Tuesday’s round of primaries, where The Donald won victories in all five of the Republican contests, it’s looking more and more difficult to slow down the Trump train. In Wednesday’s rally, Cruz reiterated his confidence that no one would reach the 1,237 delegates needed to win the nomination, creating a contested convention.

The announcement also comes after Trump received criticism for accusing Hillary Clinton of using the “woman card” to secure votes. While Cruz’s speech didn’t address these comments directly, he hit hard on Fiorina’s accomplishments as a professional and said that she “shattered the glass ceiling.” Having Fiorina on the ticket stands in contrast to Trump’s comments, and could provide a compelling reason for female GOP voters to side with Cruz.

If I am nominated, I will run on a ticket with @carlyfiorina as my Vice President. Join us: https://t.co/sGy8idmZDEhttps://t.co/4RZxR2zlMz

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) April 27, 2016

Another narrative that Cruz and Fiorina emphasized at the rally was the idea of Trump as a “Washington insider,” comparing him to Clinton and insisting that he was a “liberal” and lover of big government. Regarding the potential Trump-Clinton contest, Fiorina stated: “They’re not going to challenge the system; they are the system.”

For the Republican Party, Trump is looking more and more like the super-villain that can’t be beat, despite the fact that everyone is teaming up to bring him down. Earlier this week, Kasich and Cruz announced their plan to work together to weaken Trump’s lead and create a contested convention, but it seems like it might be too little, too late. Bringing down the relentless Trump machine may be too far out of reach at this point, but there’s certainly not a lack of trying.

Mariam Jaffery

Mariam was an Executive Assistant at Law Street Media and a native of Northern Virginia. She has a B.A. in International Affairs with a minor in Business Administration from George Washington University. Contact Mariam at mjaffery@lawstreetmedia.com.

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On Thursday night, something happened at the debate that deeply upset me. Donald Trump talked about his penis, and I realized I should probably write about it. Why, 2016 election cycle, must you make me contemplate things that I truly had no desire to think about? Why, Donald Trump, must you make insinuations about your dick size on national television? And why, America, must we be so enthralled with the borderline lunacy of this man that we then spend days talking about his penis? I am so very sad.

To be fair, I suppose, Donald Trump didn’t just come right out and make a declaration about his penis size. No, this was, bizarrely enough, a comment in reaction to Marco Rubio’s equally juvenile actions. Earlier this week, Rubio commented on how small Trump’s hands were, and said: “And you know what they say about guys with small hands…You can’t trust ’em.” Now that comment was clearly tongue-in-cheek–it was clear to everyone what Rubio was insinuating.

So, Trump decided to also address that comment at the debate on Thursday night after Rubio was asked a question about personal attacks on the Republican frontrunner. I have this image in my head of Trump sitting around with his advisors pre-debate, brainstorming the creepiest, weirdest way to announce that you have a large penis size. They succeeded.

Last night, Trump, referring to Rubio, stated:

He hit my hands — nobody’s ever hit my hands, I’ve never heard about this. He referred to my hands and said, ‘If they’re small, something else must be small,’ and I guarantee you there’s no problem. There’s no problem.

If you’d like to torture yourself, here’s the video:

Consensus appeared to be that people were upset by Trump’s crude statement, but not necessarily surprised. After all, this 2016 Republican primary has been marked by name-calling, childish antics, and complete nonsense–one of the most firmly establishment candidates, Rubio, was the one who started the hand size-penis size insinuation mess in the first place.

So, that’s where we are in American politics right now, our Republican presidential candidates are arguing about penises. This election cycle literally cannot be over soon enough.

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

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