Trump vs. Clinton, by John Hinderaker. Ted Cruz has named Carly Fiorina as his running mate, should he buck the odds and receive the Republican presidential nomination.

Will Fiorina enable Cruz to overtake Trump, who is ahead by 15 to 20 points? Almost certainly not.

Will she help Cruz cut into the gap to the point that he wins a decent share of California’s delegates? It’s far from clear that she will.

But Cruz had to try something to change the dynamic of this race. He has tried something plausible without compromising his conservatism.

Says Hinderaker:

[T]he move is widely seen as one of desperation, and tends to cement the perception that Cruz’s chance of winning the nomination is slipping away….

Which stage of grief is it when you give up? I’m there. It seems nearly certain that Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton will duke it out in November, in what shapes up as the least edifying contest in a long time. Republicans had a golden opportunity to elect a solid conservative, and they blew it.