6:01 – Carly Fiorina’s full acceptance speech:  (via Free Beacon)

Video excerpts of Cruz’ introduction of his proposed running mate:

Fiorina wastes no time in going after Trump and Hillary:

“Two sides of the same coin. They’re both liberal, we know that!”

4:48 – That was fast. The Ted Cruz for President website has already been re-directed to CruzCarly.com with a snazzy new logo reflecting the just-announced ticket:

4:35 PM – “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 in his lengthy introduction of Fiorina (still going on at this time.)

Trump responded to the leaked news with a Tweet which included a video of Fiorina saying Cruz “is just like any other politician. He says whatever he needs to say to get elected.”

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/725396879723384832

The clip is from an appearance Fiorina made on CNN’s State of the Union the first week of January, a month before the Iowa Caucus.

At this hour, Sen. Ted Cruz is set to formally announce former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina as his running mate should he somehow secure the GOP nomination in a contested convention in Cleveland.

Earlier today, Reuters confirmed a report from WMUR, the ABC affiliate in New Hampshire, that Cruz’ “major announcement” would be the announcement of Fiorina for VP:

As Allahpundit pointed out this morning, Fiorina is the natural choice for Cruz. What’s unusual, of course, is that Cruz is making the announcement without the benefit of actually being his party’s nominee. It’s pretty rare for a candidate to choose a running mate three months before the presidential convention. It’s even rarer for the candidate currently running in second place and mathematically eliminated from the possibility of securing enough delegates to be the nominee without a floor fight.

Townhall’s Guy Benson thinks the move looks like a “Hail Mary”:

This maneuver has the stench of a ‘final throes’ spasm from a campaign that fears it is doomed. If Carly defies the odds by breathing life into the Cruz effort, rallying him to victory Indiana, then proving herself to be a real asset in California, this will look like a stroke of genius in hindsight. Color me skeptical.

Check back on this post for updates including video of the announcement and Fiorina’s remarks plus analysis as it rolls in. We’ll also update with Donald Trump’s reaction which is sure to be, colorful.