The Most Important Presidential Candidate Might not be Donald Trump

It’s true that Donald Trump is the damage control candidate; the guy who comes in after the hurricane hits and is charged with saving lives, restoring power and providing food, water and shelter. Trump has willingly taken on an incredibly important but thankless burden, and we should be extraordinarily grateful he’s been willing to do it. However, it’s important to remember that once the immediate impact of a natural disaster subsides, the long-range planners come in to design methods and strategies that will mitigate the impact of the next catastrophe.

For the Republican party, that type of long-term tactical planning belongs to the next generation of leaders, and the way it’s shaping up, that effort will be spearheaded by Vivek Ramaswamy. The Baby Boomer generation must recognize it’s time to begin the process of stepping back.

Ramaswamy Surges

The most recent Echelon Insights poll confirms that Donald Trump has an iron grip on the 2024 Republican nomination with a lead of 33% over Ron DeSantis, who is currently in second place. This nearly insurmountable advantage is confirmed by a RealClear Politics consensus poll that has Trump ahead of DeSantis by 31%.

However, the real surprise in the Echelon poll was the breakout of Vivek Ramaswamy, who reached double-digits by polling at 10%, leaving him only 6% behind DeSantis. In short, Ramaswamy’s message is resonating with Republican voters, and it will be interesting to see a more detailed breakdown of his support, particularly by age group.

While the prospect of Ramaswamy winning the nomination is remote, the underlying dynamics of his campaign are far more important than the outcome of a single election.

When explaining his philosophy and policy positions, Ramaswamy simultaneously projects confidence and empathy, seamlessly woven together in a way that appeals to audiences. Born to first generation Americans of Indian descent, Ramaswamy drank deeply from the chalice of American capitalist opportunity. It would take several pages to list his accomplishments, but here is a brief highlight reel:

Graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Biology.

Co-founder of Campus Venture Network, a company that provided software networking resources to university entrepreneurs.

Founded Roivant Science, a pharmaceutical company.

Co-founded Chapter Medicare, a Medicare Navigation platform.

Chairman of OnCiore Biopharma.

Co -founder of Strive Asset Management, an Ohio-based asset management firm.

It is estimated that Ramaswamy has a net worth of over $600 million, and he’s just 37 years old. You get the idea; he’s an extremely intelligent, driven overachiever.

However, that’s just the top layer of Ramaswamy’s appeal. There is a sense of genuine enthusiasm he radiates whenever he speaks about his love for America and his concern for the future of the country. This ability to repackage traditional American values with a modern slant directed toward younger voters is absolutely essential as the party transitions away from Baby Boomer dominance toward new visions shared by subsequent generations. This is a change wave that must happen within the next decade, as millennials and Gen Z voters thirst for leaders who share their common experience and have a future life-time horizon that exceeds 10-20 years.

The importance of this evolution cannot be overstated, and it is essential that current Republican leadership, specifically President Trump himself, recognizes and nurtures a new generation of forward-thinking Republicans.

Fluid circumstances in 2023 could not be more fortuitous for transforming the ideological commitment of two generations. The negativity, hopelessness and despondency that leftists and their media and social media accomplices relentlessly peddle to young people is a modern tragedy, and it serves only one purpose: to create a permanent dependent class of voters that rely on Democrats for handouts. It is a twisted, evil way of thinking that preys on fear and sucks the joy from life, leaving people feeling hollow and without purpose.

How else can we explain a 47% increase in millennial major-depression diagnosis? More importantly, the problem is getting worse. In 2013, 13% of Gen Z teens reported having at least one depressive episode, which is 5% higher than millennials surveyed at the same age.

Depression and a loss of hope can be directly tied to the message that deranged leftists transmit to younger generations every day. Millennial “leaders” who receive the most press, namely people like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ruben Gallego, Seth Moulton and Ilhan Abdullahi Omar, preach relentless despair. Climate change is killing us, they say, so you’ll have to give up all your creature comforts. Gender is fluid, so you must tolerate men dominating women’s sports. If you become successful, they warn, we’ll take all your money because your success came at the expense of others. If you’re white, they tell you, you are inherently racist. They believe America is evil, and they constantly work to destroy any sense of pride young people might have in their country.

Their list of negativities is inexhaustible.

Hope for the Future

Yet, depression and helplessness are an unnatural state of the human experience. People want to feel good about themselves and the future. It’s inherent in our DNA. Deep down, nearly everyone wants to believe America’s best days are ahead, but due to the persistent negativity, many hunger for a young leader who believes in American ideals and has used them as a platform to achieve great success. Perhaps, just when it seems like America is lost, divine providence has delivered an American minority with a message of hope; a candidate who extolls the virtues of our nation’s greatness in a manner that reaches the audience on a very personal level.

Whether they know it or not, the Republicans have found their Barack Obama in terms of magnetism and personality, but Vivek Ramaswamy also possesses the quick wit and ability to parry the vicious attacks from the left in real time, something Obama never had to endure.

Since demographics aren’t on his side in this election cycle, Ramaswamy probably won’t win the nomination, but Donald Trump would be wise to take a long, hard look at the young entrepreneur when he’s evaluating potential running mates. Remember, Trump and his Boomer supporters won’t be around to see 2050, but Ramaswamy will. The vibrancy of youth cannot be suppressed.

Like most of us, I’m hoping Trump wants a better future for America long after he’s gone.

In fact, I’m counting on it.