Former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour thinks Carly Fiorina is "very bright" and "she is articulate," but he doesn't think Ted Cruz's decision to pick her for a running mate will make any difference in next week's Indiana primary election or at other points moving forward.
"Most people don't vote for a presidential candidate because of their running mate," the one-time Republican National Committee chairman told Fox News'
"America's Newsroom" show.
"I think it's unlikely this will make much difference."
Further, even though polling numbers give Donald Trump low ratings among women, Barbour doesn't think adding Fiorina to Cruz's race for the party nomination will sway more women to vote for the Texas senator.
"I think the problem that Trump has with women is indicated in the polling," said Barbour. "Fiorina is not going to add or subtract that. That's because of the things Trump has said, impressions he has left. So I don't see this making much difference."
Meanwhile, Barbour said that Trump has the highest negative numbers seen for a Republican or Democratic front-runner "in the history of polling," but he doesn't think that means Hillary Clinton will defeat Trump if they end up running against each other in November.
"The second most negative image of a person to be a front-runner for president of the United States is Hillary Clinton," said Barbour. "Her numbers are about 56 percent of Americans disapprove of her, have a negative opinion of her. That's incredibly high. Trump's are slightly higher. Trump has a lot more room for growth."
He does think that Trump's speech on foreign policy was a good start, and he thinks there will be more such addresses, which "will give a lot of people more comfort with Trump. I hope so."
And Barbour, as a Republican, said he will vote for whomever his party nominates, "because I don't think our country can stand third term of Obama" and he believes Trump, Cruz, and Ohio Gov. John Kasich are all better than Clinton."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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