Republicans could learn a thing or two from Vivek Ramaswamy.
His failed presidential campaign, I mean.
The entrepreneur announced late Monday that he was suspending his campaign after his weak showing in Iowa’s GOP caucuses. And he immediately backed Donald Trump’s candidacy. On that note, I think Ramaswamy’s campaign was chock-full of lessons about where things stand in GOP politics, so let’s do a post-mortem of sorts.
Here are my top takeaways from the Ramaswamy campaign.
The GOP’s youth movement is in trouble
For anyone hoping that the 38-year-old Ramaswamy might represent an insurgent youth movement in the GOP — one that could rival Trump’s movement — this campaign must have been wildly disappointing. The Indian American millennial trailed Trump, Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis among voters ages 17 to 29 in the Iowa caucuses, according to entrance polling. And he barely edged out Haley among voters who are 30 to 44 years old (his own age group).
I predicted Ramaswamy’s struggles with young voters, but it’s remarkable how a candidate so reliant on performative exhibitions of youth and virility (from awkward raps to shirtless posts) could fail so mightily at winning over young people — especially at a time when news outlets have been laser-focused on some candidates’ age and mental competence and voter concerns about both.
Racism reigns supreme in the GOP
I find it noteworthy that Ramaswamy and Haley, two Indian American candidates who have made a point of downplaying the role that racism plays in American society, have both faced bigotry in their own campaigns — undermining their claims.
Trump fueled racist conspiracy theories about Haley’s eligibility to be president, mirroring the “birther” claims he has made about Barack Obama and others. And NBC News reported that Ramaswamy and his wife faced plenty of questions from Iowa voters about their race, ethnicity and religion in the lead-up to Monday’s caucuses. Conservatives may want to…
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