Why Is Vivek Ramaswamy Launching a Culture War (Again)?

If Ramaswamy wants to be the second culture warrior to usher in a Democrat governor, then he should keep chasing windmills. Fight the fights that matter to Main Street Ohio, not to clickbait trolls.

I have zero interest in weighing in on the debate between creedalists and heritagists. Frankly, I had never heard of either -ist until Friday afternoon. Personally, I’ve always believed that being American meant putting “being American and all that that means” before “being an Ohioan,” “being of German descent” (of which I am VERY proud), “being conservative or Republican,” and, yes” “being Catholic” (render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s and unto God that which is God’s), while at the same time being enormously proud that my people came from Germany in 1856, thereby making me a 5th generation and my kids 6th generation Americans. My family’s time here doesn’t make me better than newer Americans, but, contrary to the creedalists, it does mean I’m more rooted in America. Sorry, but I just am.

When 18-year-old Herman Kroeger left the very small village of Dinklage, Germany, in 1856 to sail across a vast ocean to arrive in Baltimore then making his way to Cincinnati and Dayton, the risk he took was simply far in excess of the risk any immigrant takes today given modern air travel and the host of resources provided to new arrivals. America looked very different in 1856. No one greeted him with free housing, food, clothes, government benefits, or a well-paying job. He, like most of those who came before the 1970s, had to roll-up his sleeves and fight for his survival. The house my great-great grandfather Kroger (he dropped the “e”) built on Valley View Avenue in Dayton in 1905 that is still standing and the Catholic Church in North Dayton he helped establish are more than just fun family facts. My predecessors who fought for America beginning in the Civil War (and every war thereafter) and who literally funded and built what we call America today are more than just “people who did things.” Again, their sacrifices don’t make me more of an American, but my family and I did inherit something from their blood, sweat, and tears. Sorry, but we just did.

Vivek Ramaswamy shouldn’t dismiss the inheritance of those of us whose families have been in America for a long time. He most certainly shouldn’t lump us into the same group as Nick Fuentes and other reprehensible people. It is okay to be both proud of our familial American inheritance AND being American just like new Americans.

All of that aside, my core question is why is Ramaswamy launching a culture war AGAIN? A year ago, he decided to insult many Americans with his “nerd parenting is better than jock parenting” screed. This year, Ramaswamy decided to use his time at the big Turning Points USA gathering (and New York Times op-ed—why there of all places, Vivek? Are you looking for admiration from the Upper West Side of New York?) to fan the flames of the “creedalists versus heritagists” debate. Someone needs to remind Ramaswamy he is no longer running for president (well, at least, overtly until 2032 or 2036). Again, I’m not that interested in Ramaswamy’s views on the “creedalists versus heritagists” topic. I am extremely confident that hardly any Ohioans give a rats ass about it or Ramaswamy’s thoughts on it.

What I and they would like to know is what explicitly does Ramaswamy want to do for Ohio as governor? His anemic website says hardly anything about his actual vision for Ohio. Why does Ramaswamy spend more time writing op-eds in left-wing, East Coast newspapers and giving prime time speeches on the “creedalists versus heritagists” fringe issue instead of using those opportunities to lay out his vision for Ohio. Does he not realize that Ohio has netted fewer than 20,000 private sector job per year since 2018? Does he not know that Ohio’s population grows about as slow as a sloth crosses the road? Is he unaware that a majority of Ohio’s counties have lost population and jobs since 2000? Does he realize that his vacuousness on the issues might be why he trails Democrat Amy “Shut Down Ohio” Acton in the polls just a year after Donald Trump won Ohio by eleven points?

Ramaswamy is enormously lucky he is very wealthy and squeezed out Trump’s early endorsement because, without both of those items, he would lose a Republican primary to someone more focused on Ohio’s actual problems. His team needs to get Ramaswamy to stop launching cultural fights that have nothing to do with making Ohio stronger and risk alienating the voters he will need to win next year. I wasn’t offended by what Ramaswamy said this year (last year, I was). I just don’t care what he thinks about anything other than what specific things he plans to do as governor to turn Ohio from being a dead state walking to America’s top state. Thus far, I’ve not been impressed and, based on the polls, neither are many Ohioans.

Someone should tell Ramaswamy that the last Republican culture warrior to run for Ohio governor lost. The year was 2006. It was the midterm election of a Republican president in his second term. Ken Blackwell lost to Ted Strickland who has turned out to be the only Democrat governor in Ohio since 1991. Next year is the midterm election of a Republican president in his second term. If Ramaswamy wants to be the second culture warrior to usher in a Democrat governor, then he should keep fighting windmills as Acton lays out her vision to make Ohio stronger. Fight the fights that matter to Main Street Ohio, not the ones that matter to clickbait trolls.

P.S. Where in the hell are all of the Christmas lights? Now, I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not a big fan of Christmas, as I think we’ve lost the point of it. My kids call me Scrooge. Yet, every year I venture into the cold to put up Christmas lights at my house. It increasingly appears as if I am part of a dying breed. In walking around my and other Dublin neighborhoods, as well as around Upper Arlington where my lovely lady friend lives, we are stunned by how few homes have Christmas lights up. On a street with fifty homes, maybe five have lights up. My street is the exception to the rule, as every house has Christmas lights up except three homes. Now, I’m not suggesting we need to do what they do in Highland Park, Texas, in which Christmas light displays are an annual oneupmanship contest, so homes aren’t just outfitted with lights, but are bedazzling and jaw-dropping. I do think, however, it would be nice if more homes had lights. I remember as a kid we’d collect milk jugs during the year then line our driveway and sidewalks with sand filled milk jug luminaries on Christmas Eve. Our neighbors did, too. It was beautiful. Can you imagine how pretty our neighborhoods would look if we did that today?