Vivek Ramaswamy thinks we are idiots
Dude.
On Tuesday, NBC News reported that Vivek Ramaswamy had stopped ALL of his television advertising, less than a month before the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary.
Which is bad! Really bad!
Except it’s not at all, according to Ramaswamy. Here’s what he tweeted in response to the NBC reporting:
Oh man! He’s cracked the case! TV advertising is a trick of the political industrial complex! Only idiots buy TV ads!
Except….here’s Ramaswamy spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin in early November — when the campaign announced, to much fanfare, a massive expenditure on TV ads in early states:
“Vivek is making an eight-figure buy across Iowa and New Hampshire. Vivek’s not an idiot. Anytime earlier would have been stupid. And this is just the beginning.”
Someone is an idiot here, that’s for sure!
To believe Ramaswamy’s latest spin, you have to believe:
In early November, spending more than $10 million on TV ads in Iowa and New Hampshire was a super smart strategy
By late December — aka less than two months later — it is a decidedly stupid strategy that only morons adopt.
To which I say:
This is a pattern with Ramaswamy. He says one thing. Then, days or weeks later, he says something completely different. And explains it all away by referring to his supreme intellect, suggesting that the news media just can’t understand the nuances of his positions and stratagems.
My favorite example (other than this one)? TikTok. In September, Ramaswamy referred to the social media site as “digital fentanyl.” Days later, he joined the platform — declaring that “We’re in this to reach young people, to energize young people, and to do that, we can’t just hide. You can’t play in the game, and then not play in the game, so we’re here.”
Riiight.
Let’s be very clear about what it means to stop all of your TV advertising less than a month before the first votes of the 2024 primary: You are out of money. Or damn close to it.
That’s it. Don’t overthink it. You don’t need to have gone to Harvard (as Ramaswamy did) to understand this.
There is no secret formula that Vivek has figured out. While TV advertising is, without question, less powerful as a persuasion tool than it was 3 decades ago, it’s still — by far — the best way to reach a large number of voters at once.
Going dark a month before people actually start voting means that you are not in the mix when voters are actually making up their minds. It’s a losing strategy 100 times out of 100.
Ramaswamy, of course, knows this. If he had the money, he’d be spending it on TV ads. I mean, 6 weeks ago his campaign was full-go on a huge TV ad buy!
But, his smarter-than-thou persona — coupled with his willingness to indulge in conspiracy theories — doesn’t allow him to acknowledge that. Or even to stay silent.
So there was this from him on Wednesday morning:
Uh huh. See there is a secret plan at work here that the mainstream media don’t want you to know about! He’s going to shock the world in Iowa!
On a related note, here’s what the polling looks like in Iowa right now (Ramaswamy is the blue line near the bottom):
When I saw Ramaswamy in the first debate in August, I couldn’t get out of my head the idea that he was a used-car salesman running for president. Or maybe a guy hocking crappy Christmas trees.
And, in the end, that’s exactly what he turned out to be. This isn’t a Yugo you are buying, this is a small car that packs a big punch! Except that, of course, it’s just a Yugo.
Ramaswamy’s entire schtick in this campaign has been premised on the idea that the public are a bunch of fools who are easily led by a little bit of razzle dazzle and slick talk. That it doesn’t really matter what you say as much as how you say it.
But, the reality is this: His campaign ran out of steam a while back. Now it appears to be out of money too.
Im so happy he’s going to disappear. What a dreadful, wretched human he is.
My fervent wish is stinky tRump also runs out of cash. I believe I shall pray for that very thing. 🙏🏼
VR has treated us all as idiots since the start of his campaign. He thought his venture capital (or lottery ticket) approach to making money in Pharmaceuticals would translate into campaign success. He searched around for drugs which were already approved for manufacturing, however, were not being produced due to market oversupply. He contracted to have the drugs manufactured, hoping one of the current manufacturers runs into a production issue, and he can then supply the market, taking up the slack from the manufacturer who has production issues, often times at a higher price. He was successful with two drugs - he was not on a number of others. So, twice, Vivek was in the right place at the right time.
Bottom line, Vivek never “created” anything, or created a market in order to sell a product, or created a company based upon an overarching vision of how things should be in the world. He did not change or enhance the product to make it more effective, stronger, more saleable, etc. He committed capital to produce an existing product in the chance he could have the right product in the right place at the right time when a market disruption allowed him to swoop in and supply a shortfall created by another manufacturer’s misfortune or disruption.
My sense is he thought the Trump indictments were going to be the disruption, forcing Trump out, and he would swoop in to be the Trump alternative. Hence, he always tried to be crazy like Trump. He did not create any policy positions or try to market himself as a politician - he thought he would attract Trump voters because he did not think they were smart enough to discern the difference. So, he loses because the indictments did not “disrupt” Trump’s campaign, and Trump voters can tell the difference between the original Trump, and a cheap private label, and frankly bad, copy.