Does Vivek Ramaswamy Have a Chance?

[ByTheSpirit]

Why? Because the media keeps telling you that? The first primary is months away and already, you're declaring no-one elese stands a chance?

Because I have ears and eyes, and can reason without the use of a national propaganda machine, aka the news. Plus the results from the first debate say the same thing.

 

[Truth7t7]

Because I have ears and eyes, and can reason without the use of a national propaganda machine, aka the news. Plus the results from the first debate say the same thing.

I Agree 100%

Trump was 18 points ahead of DeSantis prior to the Georgia indictment a few days ago, and it jumped to 25 points after the indictment

That's correct, the republican base isn't fooled by the liberal MSM smoke and mirrors

Trump 2024 MAGA

 

[probinson]

I disagree with your claims, president Trump is a great American Hero and Patriot, and I look forward to Trump 2024 MAGA

I do not.

If the Republicans choose Trump as the nominee, they are essentially handing the election to whoever the Democrats run. The only people that are still on the Trump train are the MAGA diehards (of which you appear to be one), but there are not enough of them to win an election. Any candidate that the Republicans run needs to appeal to a much broader base than Trump has.

 

[wing2000]

His identity isn't presumed, it's a fact

And you've made it abundunately clear that idenity is very important to you. Policies don't matter.

 

[WolfGate]

Donald J. Trump has unified the party under MAGA, you're a minority and left the party prior to President Trumps win in 2016, Actions speak louder than words

The Complete List of President Trump's Accomplishments​

He has changed the Republican party for certain and has unified the rank and file. So in one sense you are correct. Potential candidates for the Republican party also understand they need that current rank and file to get nominated. He has most certainly not unified those potential candidates under MAGA however.

 

[Truth7t7]

And you've made it abundunately clear that idenity is very important to you. Policies don't matter.

Any person who is Soros backed, and criticizes people killing animals to eat a (Hindu Vegetarian) isn't going to be a republican president IMHO

 

[Yttrium]

Is he a Hindu?

Yes. He claims to believe in one God, which is quite possible under Hinduism. (The many gods can be seen as manifestations of one god, Brahman.)

 

[JSRG]

I do not.

If the Republicans choose Trump as the nominee, they are essentially handing the election to whoever the Democrats run. The only people that are still on the Trump train are the MAGA diehards (of which you appear to be one), but there are not enough of them to win an election. Any candidate that the Republicans run needs to appeal to a much broader base than Trump has.

The difficulty here is that if the Republicans choose someone other than Trump, Trump doesn't just vanish and disappear.

Maybe Trump, if he loses, will back the actual nominee. But he could also easily refuse to offer any support, whether that be in a neutral fashion (that is, neither endorsing nor giving explicit criticism of the candidate) or more critical (actually telling people not to vote for them).

And, of course, there's the worst nightmare for Republicans: Trump gets angry enough he launches his own independent campaign. If that happens, they are guaranteed to lose (Republicans' chances of winning might not be great with Trump as the nominee, but they'd be better than if he was an Independent running against the actual nominee). Would he do it? I don't know. While I could see Trump being angry enough to launch an independent campaign even if it sinks the chances of the Republicans, at the same time such would be a guaranteed loss for Trump as well, and I'm not sure he'd be willing to embark on a completely hopeless attempt.

So while Trump seems a long shot to win the general election, having him as the nomination still might give Republicans better chances than if someone else gets it and Trump gets angry about it.

 

[FireDragon76]

Very aggressive and not a typical example of a humble person coming from the Hindi culture. In fact he is scary.

Most Hindus are culturally conservative (though that looks very different in a religion like Hinduism vs. American Evangelicalism), but in the American context they tend to be political centrists.

My own perception is that Ramaswamy is a pandering demagogue in a party that has grown accustomed to this type of politics. His real agenda isn't hard to piece together. Loot and pillage the Earth's resources and trash our communities in the name of dog-eat-dog neoliberalism.

 

[FireDragon76]

Yes. He claims to believe in one God, which is quite possible under Hinduism. (The many gods can be seen as manifestations of one god, Brahman.)

It's more complicated than that. Most Hindus are more like inclusive monotheists, actually, and don't follow Vedanta (where that notion you reference comes from). Vedanta is a mystical form of Hinduism that only a fraction of Hindus actually adhere to. It was popularized in the US by the Neo-Vedanta movement under Yoganananda, who was a kind of missionary of this philosophy, and he did alot to promote the notion that Vedanta was quintessentially Indian. However, actual Indian religion is far more diverse. Most Hindus practice a devotional, rather than mystical form of religion.

 

[probinson]

And, of course, there's the worst nightmare for Republicans: Trump gets angry enough he launches his own independent campaign. If that happens, they are guaranteed to lose (Republicans' chances of winning might not be great with Trump as the nominee, but they'd be better than if he was an Independent running against the actual nominee). Would he do it? I don't know. While I could see Trump being angry enough to launch an independent campaign even if it sinks the chances of the Republicans, at the same time such would be a guaranteed loss for Trump as well, and I'm not sure he'd be willing to embark on a completely hopeless attempt.

This is a very real concern for Republicans. I have no doubt that Trump would attempt an independent run, because Trump doesn't care about Republicans. Trump cares about Trump. And those that are fully on board with MAGA would vote for him, delusional in their belief that they could make history by electing the first independent candidate.

 

[RocksInMyHead]

I found it fascinating that a CNN group of voters from Iowa felt he won the debate. That alone shows he has a chance.

I think you could make the case that he was the "winner" in the sense that he did the best job of getting his name out. Haley crushed him on foreign policy, and several other candidates spent significant time attacking him/his policies, but all of that required talking about him, which is something that he wasn't getting enough of before the debate. It's somewhat a case of "there's no such thing as bad publicity."

 

[Hans Blaster]

Appreciate the question that provoked me to research, who is Vivek Ramaswamy?

A good question, worthy of answer.

He was born in Cincinnati Ohio to Hindu parents from Tamil India

A nice bit of bio. It will inspire some and repulse a few.

He was schooled from 8th-12th grade at a jesuit catholic school

Not a fan of private schools generally, but the Jesuits are firm backers and practitioners of rigorous education.

He attended (Harvard BA) and (Yale JD)

So a BA and a JD? No actual "tech" backgroud for the bio-tech entrepreneur. I'll keep that in mind whenever I read about him as a "bio-tech guy". (Frankly he didn't feel like an actual tech guy, more of a poser/finance guy.)

He was awarded a fellowship by Paul Soros, the older brother of George Soros

He got a scholarship from a Soros fund or foundation and that's a taint apparently? I seriously an Soros did anything other than read his name on a list of recipients after they'd been selected. It's not like his superPAC gets millions in Soros money, is it?

He has openly criticized the killing of animals for food, with himself being a Hindu vegetarian

A lot of Americans abstain or refrain from eating animals or animal products. Some for health reasons, some for religious reasons, some for moral reasons. This isn't as much of a problem as you seem to think. (And if he were to get the nomination, I'm sure the US beef lobby would back him over "Beef banning Biden" anyway.)

He is closely aligned with Pfizer and big pharma in research partnerships through his several biotech companies

Nobody likes "big pharma", but without a very deep dive it is not clear what his actual ties are. Some is probably related to "options" to acquire certain drugs he's gotten control of the IP for. (And he seems to have made most of his money on what looks like a pump-and-dump scheme involving one of those drugs.)

Conclusion: I don't see a Jesuit schooled,, Paul Soros backed person, who is a Hindu vegetarian, and aligned with big pharmaceutical, being the republican nominee for president of the US

They probably won't nominate him and sadly these might be the reasons. (I wish it was because he comes off as a tech-bro corpratist authoritarian, but simple bigotries will probably be the reason.)

 

[Truth7t7]

Nobody likes "big pharma", but without a very deep dive it is not clear what his actual ties are.

Ramaswamy owns Roivant, that purchased a treatment from Pfizer Dec 2022, that is being sold to Roche for $7 Billion, while Pfizers maintains a 25% stake in the Ramaswamy's subsidiary Televant that's producing the drug "Wow"!​

​

That's a Ramaswamy spiders web attached to big Pharma before your eyes, "Big Smiles"!​

NewYorkPost​

Vivek Ramaswamy’s pharmacy firm to sell experimental drug in $7B deal​

July 14, 2023

Switzerland-based Roche — the fifth-largest pharmaceutical company in the world — is reportedly ready to dish out billions to secure those rights, people familiar with the matter told The Journal.

Roivant acquired its stomach disease treatment from a deal with Pfizer late last year.

Roivant formed a new subsidiary, called Telavant, to fund the development of the drug, which goes by RVT-3101, according to The Journal.

Pfizer still has a 25% stake in Televant, and has commercial rights outside the US and Japan. It was unclear what would happen to Pfizer’s part-ownership should the deal close.

Pfizer​

Roivant and Pfizer Form New Vant Company Focused on Developing TL1A Drug Candidate for Inflammatory and Fibrotic Diseases​

Thursday, December 01, 2022

 

[essentialsaltes]

'God is real': Vivek Ramaswamy is drawing on his Hindu faith to win over Iowa evangelicals​

Just as “God is real” is one of Ramaswamy's favorite campaign messages, he preaches faith, family, hard work and patriotism as tenets of his campaign, themes he knows appeal to the Republican base.​

Vivek Ramaswamy: 'God put us here for a purpose'​

Religion is a key theme of Ramaswamy’s campaign. Just as “God is real” is one of his favorite campaign messages, he preaches faith, family, hard work and patriotism as core tenets of his campaign, themes he knows resonate with the Republican base.

“There are two genders,” he says during every stump speech.

Before many campaign stops across Iowa this summer, Ramaswamy has prayed with Christians. And at an Aug. 31 campaign stop in Nevada, Iowa, he told a crowd of evangelical Christians that their faith is under attack, by “new secular religions: Wokeism, transgenderism, climatism, COVIDism."

Iowa Faith & Freedom Coalition President Steve Scheffler said evangelicals are unconcerned by Ramaswamy’s Hindu faith, unlike the way they would be if an atheist or agnostic candidate ran as a Republican presidential candidate.

“He’s acknowledging that this country was founded on Judeo-Christian values," Scheffler said. “When he acknowledges that, that gives me a lot of comfort.”

Ramaswamy never converted to Christianity, but his Christian education [at a Catholic high school] shaped his worldview, he said during an Aug. 31 news conference after he spoke at a Marshalltown restaurant.

He described himself as “not a scholar” of the Bible, but a student of it.

There are differences, however, one of which was on display at the Iowa State Fair in August when Ramaswamy eschewed the tradition of caucus candidates flipping pork chops. Instead, Ramaswamy, a vegetarian, opted for meatless options such as ice cream with Iowa Ag Secretary Mike Naig.

“I wouldn’t be qualified to serve in the role as pastor for any of you, but I’m asking you to put me in a good position to serve as your commander in chief,” Ramaswamy said in Nevada on Aug. 31. “What I can tell you with honesty is we share the same value set equally that this country was founded on.”

 

[DaisyDay]

“God is real”

Which one?

 

[Arcangl86]

Which one?

And here is where the institutional and cultural normalism of Christianity can help him. By saying simply God, people assume that he means Jesus because in the US the two are synonymous for most people.

 

[DaisyDay]

Still, I’d like to see Diwali celebrated in the White House.

 

[Arcangl86]

Still, I’d like to see Diwali celebrated in the White House.

Can you imagine the rash of coronaries that would invoke on Capitol Hill?

 

[essentialsaltes]

Still, I’d like to see Diwali celebrated in the White House.

Trump celebrates Diwali at the White House​