Vivek Ramaswamy went into the Republican debate with a bold presence. Nevertheless, he failed to win many more votes.
The most striking thing he said that night was calling out the “climate change agenda” as a hoax. Currently, there is overwhelming evidence supporting the contrary. Furthermore, even a majority of Republicans, who have historically been against climate change legislation, still recognize its occurrence. According to Pew Research polls, about half or more than half of Republicans actually support increased environmentally friendly regulations. This approach was entirely ineffective, only appealing to a small minority.
While not all Americans are in support of legislation to combat climate change, the vast majority is in acknowledgment of its detrimental effects, which is the first step to carrying out informed policy. Ramaswamy is not only failing in his campaign strategy, he is utilizing his limelight to further an idea harmful to the future of environmentalism.
This was just one of many topics touched on the night of the first 2024 Republican presidential candidate debates. While he spoke a lot and seemed to embody a “Chat-GPT” verbiage, as Chris Christie put it, his words did not stick. In fact, they worked against him. He attempted to take up the persona that Trump would have, had he been in the room, the far right, the confident and charismatic. But there’s already a Trump in the running. Even though Trump has a multitude of charges against him and was arrested, he was bailed out instantly. He’s not dropping from the running any time soon.
Furthermore, because nearly all of Trump’s supporters will vote for Trump, the Trump-wannabe Ramaswamy is out of luck. Especially considering that Trump’s mugshot has been stealing much of the media attention that Ramaswamy had earned, Ramaswamy’s tactic has failed.
However, his growing presence has cost DeSantis some of the spotlight, and now, the two are battling for number two in the race.
On top of all this, Ramaswamy is the only Republican candidate without prior government experience. According to findings from the Pew Research Center, only a third of Republicans would support such a candidate, and ten percent of Democrats, meaning Ramaswamy wouldn’t fare well in a general election. The study also found that younger voters were even more distrusting of candidates without political experience, and as more of the young generation will be able to vote in the coming election, Ramaswamy’s case becomes even more difficult.
However, because Nikki Haley, Chris Christie, and Ron Desantis all at one point verbally attacked Ramaswamy, he got extra spotlight not only while they were talking about him, however negatively, but also when got the chance to defend his case, which he did without missing a beat. The whole debate, a wide, bright smile, showcasing the whole front of his teeth, was plastered across his face in stark contrast to the other candidates who kept serious fronts with slight upturned lips at most.
One thing’s for sure—Ramaswamy won the first primary debate in terms of popularity. Granted, he’s not going to go far in the presidential race, but he’s gained more recognition than most other candidates can boast right now. Unfortunately, his political career doesn’t seem over quite yet.
