Likability Remains Republican Vivek Ramaswamy’s Biggest Problem When It Comes to Beating Democrat Amy Acton

Unlike Ramaswamy who enters conversations just to tell you what he thinks, she doesn’t talk at you, but talks to you. The former is grating; the latter is refreshing.

Maybe party affiliation will save Vivek Ramaswamy from himself in Ohio’s Governor’s race. Maybe the +11 Donald Trump Red state slant will be enough for him to sneak past Amy Acton in the governor’s race. Partisans on the Right can dismiss Acton’s lead, but it is one she has sustained in multiple polls for seven months now. With five months to go, the Right might want to start worrying. Ramaswamy and his out-of-state/John Kasich straphanger team should be mighty worried, but they keep ignoring my advice on how Ramaswamy could turn things around, which includes kicking those folks guiding him to defeat to the curb before it is too late. As the saying goes, when you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.

The fact is Ramaswamy just isn’t likable with his “smartest guy in the room” persona and his pablum driven soundbites. His casual dismissal of Main Street Ohioans who got dealt a raw deal by the H-1B visa program he used repeatedly and his “nerds are better than jocks and cheerleaders” slam of large numbers of grassroots Ohioans, as well as his newcomers who arrived to a modern America are as good as those of us whose families shed blood, sweat, and tears building the Ohio and America they arrived in, won’t be overcome by throwing out a few red meat slogans bereft of actual details.

Ask yourself this: if Ramaswamy didn’t have an “R” after his name, would you support him? Given what I hear and see, the answer is a hard “ No!”

In stark contrast is Acton. She is immensely likable. While I don’t like what she did to shut down Ohio during the pandemic and continue to believe she should apologize for the advice she gave and her adulation of Anthony Fauci, she comes across as a genuine, concerned non-politician. When I met her a few years ago, she was warm and sincere. Watch the video below of her talking about having Republicans and independents in her cabinet should she become governor. It personifies why she is leading this race despite the structural disadvantage Democrats face in Ohio. Unlike Ramaswamy who enters conversations just to tell you what he thinks, she doesn’t talk at you, but talks to you. The former is grating; the latter is refreshing.