US Presidential polls 2024: Indian-American Ramaswamy, a newly minted debate star thinks he can fake it
reality than their American cousins. So are the Democrats. The Democratic candidate in recent years closest to Ramaswamy in vibe — Ivy League credentials, weird ideas, a business background — was Andrew Yang.
Democrats did not warm to Yang in the 2020 primary, and even his campaign for New York mayor went nowhere. Most Indian diaspora politicians are still more like Haley. UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is, like Ramaswamy, a slight and anxious man of Indian descent with a background in finance, but his appeal was always that he was a serious chap who was going to balance the books.
In recent months, Sunak has half-heartedly tried to throw red meat to the Brexit-loving, migrant-hating Tory base; his attempts to pass for a Boris Johnson-esque populist have been widely mocked. Ramaswamy is betting he will have more luck with a Trumpian, substance-challenged GOP. To their credit, both the Tories and the Republicans seem to have embraced diaspora Indians.
It makes political sense. Many of us can be reflexively suspicious of government intervention, convinced it is designed to help other people, not us. When we look at our successes in the West, we tell ourselves that — as 2012 Mitt Romney would say — “we built it" with minimal help from anyone else.
But Ramaswamy hasn’t thought his strategy through. An enraged and resentful Trump comes across as authentic, even charismatic to many voters. Hisbitterness sounds believable to his base and entertaining to independents.
Read more on livemint.com
