Vivek Ramaswamy is demonstrating his guerrilla marketing skills. The long-shot Republican presidential-primaries candidate is adding spice and surprise to the campaigns. As the 37-year-old media-savvy multimillionaire exploits his entrepreneurial expertise fully, he is leaving behind a trail of customised political messages wherever he goes. His words are perfectly tailored to please the divisive and disruptive Republicans.

The Quest for Profile and Publicity

By airdropping himself at every campaign venue, Mr Ramaswamy is rapidly raising his political profile. Politics is a new dimension to his personality. He is a hedge fund analyst-turned-biotech entrepreneur, who takes pride in being a conservative activist and a startup investor. Mr Ramaswamy is likely to be the Republican nominee along with the presumptive nominee Donald Trump. As a consummate guerrilla campaigner, Mr Ramaswamy is energetic.

His boundless energy lifted him recently to the third spot in the national polls. As his guerrilla campaign begins to pay off, he may even do well in the first Republican debate in August. However, as a political novice, he may not look like a potential presidential nominee. Yet, he is running for president in his desperate quest for a bigger profile and broader publicity, with an eagle eye on furthering his diverse commercial interests in America. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/21/us/politics/vivek- ramaswamy-presidential-candidate-2024.html?auth=login-google

Video Courtesy: YouTube/WMUR-TV

Greenhorn Becomes a Grandee

Thanks to his oratorical skills, Mr Ramaswamy is getting the publicity he is craving for. In the process, he is able to establish himself as a perfect match for Mr Trump, the high-pitched fellow Republican. Good luck for Mr Ramaswamy, his diction and delivery are earning him many political friends. Add to this his amiable public persona, the formula is just right for Republican audiences. Already, many Republicans have begun likening him to Mr Trump of 2016.

The year 2016 was when the former president had transformed himself from being a greenhorn to the status of a grandee in the grand old party. The comparison is not entirely out of place as Mr Ramaswamy is acceptable to a large percentage of the Republican constituency today. His restless youth, uninhibited eloquence and articulated commitment to combat ‘woke’ corporations are hits among right-wing Republicans. Why is anti-woke activist Vivek Ramaswamy running for president? – The Washington Post

The Legacy-Challenging Maverick

Even hardcore conservative Republicans seem to like Mr Ramaswamy as he is easy to approach, available for interviews and agile in paying back troubling interviewers in their own currency. As he exudes self-confidence and media management skills, Mr Ramaswamy is becoming a rage among his many social-media followers. His no-nonsense repartees are winning him many likes in the digital media space.

This is in sharp contrast to conservative Republicans like the combative Floridan governor Ron DeSantis. By breaking away from such a militant shell, Mr Ramaswamy is proving to the Republicans that he is out there to grab every opportunity coming his way. He says he loves to take tough interviewers head on and create public interest. This confession is seen as legacy-challenging and tradition-breaking by most Republicans. Poll: Vivek Ramaswamy closes in on Ron DeSantis in another GOP Primary poll (floridapolitics.com)

More Trumpian than Mr Trump

Confirming their perception, Mr Ramaswamy is challenging the domination of Mr Trump in the Republican Party. As the party continues to be under Mr Trump’s thumb, Mr Ramaswamy revels in taking swipes at the former president. Republicans seem to enjoy these hits. As Mr Ramaswamy proposes a deal with Vladimir Putin on Ukraine and suggests replacing the Federal Bureau of Investigation, he is lighting hope in the hearts of Republicans.

Yet, he is more Trumpian than Mr Trump himself, as his suggestion that the former president should be pardoned suggests. Essentially, it proves Mr Ramaswamy’s damning approach. He is bold enough to tell openly how he will trump president Joe Biden in the polls. He is audacious enough to talk about how he will negotiate with the Chinese president Xi Jinping to put an end to the US-China trade standoff. Trying to beat Trump by embracing him: Vivek Ramaswamy’s 2024 strategy is odd to Republicans – ABC News (go.com)

Determined to Change the Rules

Mr Ramaswamy is daring enough to release a list of his choices for the Supreme Court. He takes potshots at what he calls ‘fund-raising oligopoly.’ It is this political daredevilry that the Republicans, and the media, like in him. Not surprising that he gets favourable coverage in sensation-loving American media. As his new plan is about giving his fundraisers 10 percent of what they raise, he is determined to alter the rules of the business of politics. Vivek Ramaswamy campaign proposes giving 10% commission to bundlers (nbcnews.com)

The Poliphoon’s Last Word

In the process, Mr Ramaswamy is improving his upside in the presidential race. Anyway, he is a winner already. In the sense, he is acceptable to many right-wing Republicans, despite being a practising Hindu raised by Indian immigrants. He is a known sympathiser of the right-wing American group HinduPACT, which believes in Indian prime minister Narendra Modi’s brand of militant Hindu nationalism. The fear is that Mr Ramaswamy may end up being more divisive than Mr Trump. The former president and his ghost are not going away anytime soon.