Summary: Political newcomer Vivek Ramaswamy looks best positioned to secure the 2024 GOP nomination. He has most of Trump’s advantage. few of Trump’s negatives. His charisma, wealth, and outsider status distinguish him from the establishment candidates – who rely on big donors. More radical than Trump, he is the cutting-edge candidate. Ramaswamy continues to rise in the polls and will likely overtake Desantis in second place in the next few weeks. Many Trump supporters choose Vivek Ramaswamy as their second choice. This is a first post by a new co-author on the FM website!
Elections rarely end the way people expect them when they start. In spring 2015, everyone expected the presidential showdown to be Bush vs Clinton 3: Rise of the Megadonors. Donald Trump’s rise as a serious candidate and victory surprised everyone (especially me), showing outsiders can influence the byzantine swamp of DC. Earlier this year the general consensus expected 2024 to repeat established themes with Trump vs Biden 2: Geriatric Wars. Ron Desantis looked as though he would overtake Trump but started flaming out in March, beginning with his flip-flop on Ukraine.
I first learned of Ramaswamy while attending a Republican event in Iowa. Before that night I did not know he even existed. He quickly won over the crowd with his policies and Ten Truths (see below). His question and answer section impressed me the most. Ramaswamy answered hard questions directly and in detail. Most if not all of his answers ran contrary to mainstream neocon positions in the GOP. Ramaswamy also spoke very favorably of Trump for his contributions, especially trailblazing for others to follow. Establishment candidates such as Tim Scott, Mike Pence, and Ron Desantis speak carefully. They fear angering their donors. They also avoid the elephant in the room: how they will defeat Trump. I think they pray one of the indictments sticks so they don’t have to run against him.
Ramaswamy was born to Indian-American immigrants in 1985, making him the first millennial to run for President as a Republican. He founded biotech company Riovant Sciences in 2014. Later he stepped down to cofound investment firm Strive Asset Management in 2021. His investment firm specifically stands against “wokeness” and ESG (Environmental, Social, and corporate Governance). Ramaswamy has published three books on leftist ideology’s widespread infiltration of American corporations (see links below). When he appeared on Don Lemon’s CNN show, Ramaswamy stood his ground to Lemon’s rude commentary. This reportedly prompted Lemon’s firing from the network. The New Yorker dubbed Ramaswamy the ‘CEO of Anti-Woke’ (see link below to their profile on him).
Ramaswamy enjoys two big advantages over Trump. First, Trump and Biden clock in at 77 and 80 years old respectively, while Ramaswamy is 37 years old. He has the energy to campaign. Since announcing his campaign, Ramaswamy has appeared on a wide range of political podcasts and shows. While Trump has had relatively few appearances and events (but as the incumbent frontrunner doesn’t need to). Still, his age must slow him down. Second, Ramaswamy has little political baggage. Unlike Trump, who is divisive within the Republican party and even among his own supporters. I voted for him in 2016 and 2020, but was not excited for him in 2024. Per FiveThirtyEight, Trump only led Desantis by two points on January 6, 2023. Trump’s rise in the Republican Primary polls has only come from Desantis’ fall. Until July there was no widely known alternative to Donald Trump acceptable to GOP voters. Trump’s supporters might swing to Vivek Ramaswamy in large numbers if these trends continue.
Ramaswamy’s campaign website outlines his 25 policy commitments. He intends to put “America First”, going beyond anything Trump did as President. Here are five of Vivek’s commitments, one from each category.
- End affirmative action: repeal Lyndon Johnson’s executive order 11246.
- Put Americans back to work: dismantle Lyndon Johnson’s failed “Great Society”.
- Use our military to annihilate Mexican drug cartels: defend against the CCP’s opium war.
- Shut down toxic government agencies: Dept of Education, FBI, IRS, and more (and rebuild from scratch when required).
- Pardon defendants of politicized prosecutions: Trump, Mackey, and peaceful Jan 6 protesters.
The core message of Ramaswamy’s campaign is that we can reinvigorate America. Many younger Republicans (under 35) such as myself see America in decline. Ramaswamy tell us that we can change this course. As a Boomer (born in 1946), Trump cannot dismantle the Boomers’ liberal dream. He attempted to trim the out-of-control elements of the generations-long liberal crusade. He failed because he did not challenge its legitimacy. Ramaswamy explicitly challenges core foundations of the modern administrative state, even asking why we need core agencies such as the FBI. He proposes shifting more responsibility to the States and reducing federal involvement in everyday life. Lastly, his intent to pardon Trump and the January 6 protestors will earn him many favors among Trump supporters.
Ramaswamy’s Ten Sacred and Undeniable Truths
- God is real.
- There are two genders.
- Human flourishing requires fossil fuels.
- Reverse racism is racism.
- An open border is no border.
- Parents determine the education of their children.
- The nuclear family is the greatest form of governance known to mankind.
- Capitalism lifts people up from poverty.
- There are three branches of the U.S. government, not four.
- The U.S. constitution is the strongest guarantor of freedoms in history.
If I told you in 2010 that by 2023 these truths would become contested battlegrounds in the mainstream media, you would have said I was a conspiracy theorist. Now that dystopian future has arrived. It’s not the cool dystopia of Blade Runner, when we wear sunglasses and trench coats in the rain at night. In just thirteen years the leftist revolution has moved very quickly. Even at this late date it faces little organized opposition.
The January 2024 Iowa Caucuses will be Vivek Ramaswamy’s first real test. Until then we will see how Ramaswamy performs in debates against Trump. When Ramaswamy overtakes Desantis in the polls, the media will move against him. In 2016, journalists’ Trump Derangement Syndrome probably on net helped him. We will see how Ramaswamy does. Should Trump fall from the race, whether due to health or indictments, then Ramaswamy will surge to the top.
For More Information
- Vivek 2024 Campaign Website
- Vivek’s 25 Policy Commitments to Take America First Further than Trump.
- Vivek’s Ten Truths.
- CEO of Anti-Woke, Inc (New Yorker) by Sheelah Kolhatkar, December 12, 2022.
- The Chimera Question by Vivek Ramaswamy, NYT, 16 July 2007 – An op-ed summarizing his Bowdoin Prize thesis on the ethics of creating human-animal chimeras.
- Don Lemon Early Morning Show with Vivek Ramaswamy. Posted on Ramaswamy’s youtube channel.
- Piers Morgan Uncensored Interview with Vivek Ramaswamy. Ramaswamy addresses Trump directly as his Republican opponent.
- Tucker Carlson BlazeTV Summit Interview with Vivek Ramaswamy. Of the attending candidates only Vivek gained points from this event. Trump did not attend.
His books
Woke, Inc.: Inside Corporate America’s Social Justice Scam
Nation of Victims: Identity Politics, the Death of Merit and the Path Back to Excellence
Capitalist Punishment: How Wall Street Is Using your Money to Create a Country You Didn’t Vote
He plans on re-invigorating America… by going to war with China: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fy6aomlZOQI
Sorry but China already won.
As for the so called Ten Sacred and Undeniable Truths, he has the same problem the meatball has: you can complain about woke this and that all you want. It won’t matter unless you address who is funding it.
Wow. Vivek says nothing in that brief interview about going to war with China. He speaks of coordinated policy actions about AI, in the long tradition of post-WW2 US diplomacy.
He speaks of playing hardball with China with respect to trade and intellectual property – again, with many precedents in US and western diplomacy.
Perhaps you didn’t actually listen to the interview.
Oh but I did.
Here’s the thing. China is never going to ‘fold’ on intellectual property, because, as a form of private property (in the Marxist sense), they want to abolish it. Now what?
Furthermore, since writing my comment, here’s what he had to say about China in an August WSL article (https://archive.is/HCJOw):
Put yourself in their shoes. Do you think this is not going to lead to war with China? Do you think they’re going to sit back and let us turn Taiwan into another Ukraine?
He’s not fooling anyone.
Vivek’s having his 15 minutes of fame mostly because the DeSantis ship is rapidly sinking rather than anything he’s actually done. He’ll be the Ben Carson or Pete Buttigieg of this election cycle: i.e., he’s basically running for a cushy cabinet job in a Trump or other future Republican administration.
You’ve made your prediction. The primary season has begun, and in a few months we’ll see how accurate you are.
There are so many dumb assertions here I am not sure where to even start.
-Just because one of the two mainstream candidates is floundering doesn’t mean all the randos with single-digit numbers in the polls have a chance.
-Escalating with China is moronic, especially after Biden single-handedly gutted the Dollar’s unassailable status as the world reserve currency. Invading Mexico is arguably even more moronic, this guy is extremely divorced from reality. No really, talking about “annihilating” countries with our invincible military sounds like something an 8 year old would say.
-The odds of winning a presidential election on a “defund medicare” platform are zero.
In short, Mr. Agrippa’s Dunning-Kruger effect is a perfect match for what this site has deteriorated to.
It all started going downhill once Larry (the original editor) moved back to Iowa. I’m not a right winger, but I always found his insights interesting and usually pretty reasonable and well thought-out. Now all he does is rot his brain on Twitter.
Speaking of “dumb assertions” –
“Just because one of the two mainstream candidates is floundering doesn’t mean all the randos with single-digit numbers in the polls have a chance.”
The post says no such thing.
“Escalating with China is moronic.”
It’s wonderful that you believe yourself to be another geopolitical genius, like Bismarck. But you’re probably not. Many actual experts believe that prudent escalation with China could prove beneficial.
“Invading Mexico is arguably even more moronic”
There is nothing “here” about invading Mexico.
“The odds of winning a presidential election on a “defund medicare” platform are zero.”
Again, you refer to ‘dumb assertions’ that are not in this post.
“Dunning-Kruger effect”
Reading your comment did remind me of that theory.
But who? WHO benefits? The USA is a space age military with a third world country attached to it. This is just embarrassing.
“The USA is a space age military with a third world country attached to it.”
A “Third World country”? Too bizarre to discuss. You need to get out more.
Well then that prompts me to ask what countries you have been to besides the USA.
Who are these experts? What are their qualifications? They’re not the same experts that thought it was a good idea to wind up the Ukrainians to attack Russia, are they?
Why do we need to escalate anything? Why not join Belt and Road instead?
IDK what happened here but I distinctly remember this blog warning that we were about to crash on the rocks. I see the rocks clearly, dead ahead. Do you?
Whether tone light or heavy with China has been a debate in US foreign policy circles since 1950. If you are unaware of this, I suggest a course at your local community college or visit to Amazon.
3 days to respond with ‘read a book / go back to school’ but didn’t answer any of my questions. L take
No matter. The working class and democratic petty bourgeoisie of Iowa saw right through this call center scammer’s BS. My guess is they don’t want to escalate with China either
“God is real” as truth #1… Is that guy running for Islamic Iran presidency ?
“Mexican drug cartels” … I think Big Pharma killed more Americans with drugs than any Mexican drug lord…
And that guy is regarded as a potential POTUS ?!!!
Only hope for mankind is the immediate nuclear annihilation of the US.
1/ A large fraction of Americans, both past and present believe in God. Hence, religious freedom and expression are core values. If you don’t believe in them, perhaps it is you who should move to Iran.
2/ As for destruction of America, I guess ‘haters are gonna hate.’ Not worth consideration.
This clown was never a serious candidate and more recent polls prove it. He is back down to candidate #4, with zero chance at the nomination. https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/president-primary-r/2024/national/
1/ Polls this early in the election cycle have little predictive value.
2/ Even if Vivek has little or no chance of winning, outsider candidates play a big role in our system by introducing new ideas and perspectives into the political system.
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wow!
You’re a fool
Are you capable of a rational response, beyond schoolyard insults?