It looks like Vivek Ramaswamy has dropped out of the race.
Vivek Ramaswamy Drops Out Of 2024 Race | HuffPost Latest News , after pulling in less than 8% in the Iowa Caucusses.
A shame. He was the voice of reason in that race.
I hope you forgot a winky-face there.
Ramaswamy was never “in”. His schtick consisted entirely of trying to appeal to MAGAts with statements so outrageous that he seemed to be trying to out-trump the Orange Menace himself. There were two huge problems with this strategy: (1) there’s not much gain in being a Trump wannabe when the original specimen is still around, and (2) his skin colour is an automatic disqualifier with MAGAts. The only acceptable options to neo-Nazis are pasty white or luminescent orange, and Ramaswamy is neither.
I agree. He was acceptable as a boot-licker in MAGA land, as befits his race and skin color. Never anything more.
I hope debasing himself to racists was worth it for him. Actually, no I don’t.
He wasn’t running for the top job. He might have been at the very first, when he appeared to be trying to appeal to disaffected Republicans who were unimpressed with DeSantis, but as soon as he changed his message to be an inheritor of the MAGA political line, he was gunning for Mike Pence’s old job.
Republicans (for the most part) don’t think of themselves as racists, and won’t not vote for someone because of their skin color. This is even more true for someone running for the number two slot.
In fact, a lot of Republicans would vote for a MAGA spouting person of color just to prove they aren’t racists.
And Vivek is out. Was he every truly in?
A lot of people run without the expectation or desire to actually become president. Christie certainly didn’t expect to win any nominations, but he ran because he wanted to bring attention to Trump’s many shortcomings. Vivek ran because he’s aiming for a position in the next Trump administration no doubt hoping to become a running mate but if he misses that maybe a cabinent position or other appointment.
I think he’d need to get a job that doesn’t require Senate approval. Not at all suggesting that the Senate is full of courageous people, but Vivek has left such a trail of racist looniness that I can’t imagine he’d get every Republican vote, or any Democratic votes.
Don’t forget that Trump found a way around congress by appointing people as interim/acting directors of varous agencies.
Very true
If the Rs win in 2024, expect almost nothing of the Federal government to run as it has been these last few decades.
There will be slash and burn about how everything from judicial or cabinet appointments to the civil service to the writing, rescission, or (non) enforcement of regulations works.
Nothing will be as it was. Nothing.
I assumed he was (or is) running for Veep.
“I wanna boat bigger than that guys boat politics, sure you can have your factory”
Or for Prez in 2028 or 2032 or.
At age 38 he’s a plausible presidential candidate for another 40(!) years. Gotta build name recognition somehow sometime. The sooner you start, the sooner you succeed.
Vivek has a shot to break Harold Stassen’s record (10 runs according to his Wiki page).
Who? 
May as well lump Asa Hutchinson’s primary demise here in the Vivek thread:
Poor Asa - he was such a nobody we didn’t even give him his own thread here on the Dope. Sounds like he was trying to get the message through to conservative voters what danger there is in selecting Trump - I guess that’s not the kind of talk they wanna hear.