Vivek Ramaswamy leaves the boardroom for a barn in Iowa to test out his businessman-turned-culture-warrior brand on rural conservative voters.
But on a chilly Monday evening last month, Ramaswamy found himself in a place far from the Fox News green rooms and high-powered corporate board rooms he’s used to. He was at a dinner event in Iowa, addressing a crowd of dozens of the state’s agricultural royalty tucked inside a huge upscale barn with exposed wood beams and the heads of elk and bison mounted on the walls.
Ramaswamy was there to do what people with ambition, a thirst for the spotlight and an overflowing sense of self-confidence occasionally go to Iowa to do. He is exploring a run for president, testing, among other things, whether his warnings about the dangers of “wokeism” and socially-responsible investing — in business vernacular what’s called environmental, social and governance investing — has political currency with Republican politicians, business leaders and, yes, farmers.
While Ramaswamy received a warm response, he also copped to me soon after his speech that he couldn’t recall the name of one of the top GOP bigwigs in attendance. It was Terry Branstad, the legendary former governor of Iowa and a political kingmaker in the state, who is friends with the dinner’s host. Branstad, for his part, said he was willing to give Ramaswamy, who is framing his bid as an effort to revive national identity, a chance.
And speak out he has. He’s made hundreds of appearances on cable news and become regarded as one of the intellectual godfathers of the anti-woke movement. In turn, the prospects of entering politics became more and more alluring. “I think the GOP has a historic opportunity to answer the question of what it means to be an American at the moment where we lack a national identity,” he said. “I’m grateful that many Republican governors and other leaders have borrowed my message and woven it into their policy agendas. But when it comes to who leads our country next, I believe that it’s going to take a leader who shares his own vision, not someone else’s, and that’s what calls me to do this.
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