December 26, 2023 | People We Should Know: Vivek Ramaswamy

The US presidential campaign is like a boxing match where the undercard is way more interesting than the main event. On the Democrat side, RFK Jr. is stomping all over Establishment verities like open borders and vaccine mandates while stealing a big chunk of what was once seen as Joe Biden’s base. On the Republican side, Donald Trump is a lock for the nomination but Vivek Ramaswamy is running the most influential losing campaign in years.

Ramaswamy (tech billionaire, son of immigrants) will not be president this time around. But there are at least two reasons for watching him: First, he’s only 38 years old, so he has literally four more decades to build an electoral base. Second, he’s saying things that a front-runner probably can’t get away with but which are interesting, frequently true, and — most important — useful for other politicians to copy. Check out these clips:

Ammo for a populist revolution

Such complex ideas will take a while to work their way into the mainstream. But as material for future populist and conservative politicians, they’re rhetorical gold.

So expect variations on Ramaswamy’s themes and phrasing to start cropping up in local, state, and Congressional races. And as they become familiar, expect them to appeal to a potentially dominant right-center coalition.

Whether Ramyswamy will end up leading that coalition is of course unknowable, but it almost doesn’t matter. The US is ripe for a rebellion against globalization, endless war, and corporatism. And ideas like these are high-caliber ammunition.

John Rubino December 26th, 2023

Posted In: John Rubino Substack

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