Ray Marcano is a Columbus Dispatch contributing columnist.
Some campaign events are so cringeworthy that you feel for the candidates.
In Vivek Ramaswamy’s case, his last speech on July 31 in Cincinnati belongs in the hall of fame of embarrassing political performances.
He got booed off the stage by college students after off-putting remarks infuriated what should have been a friendly crowd. And when the crowd turned on him, he tucked tail and left.
Ramaswamy addressed the Young Americans for Liberty national convention at Xavier University. It’s a group that believes in small government and personal freedom, two of the pillars central to Ramaswamy’s campaign.
Ramaswamy’s influencing winners or whiners
The Republican candidate for governor took the stage to boos – a bad sign − and came off as a privileged know-it-all who had no patience for the young crowd.
Things collapsed when Ramaswamy started the “winners vs. whiners” portion of his speech, a staple he believes is a rallying cry for Ohioans and Americans to work hard and make their own success.
According to the Daily Beast, he told one disruptive audience member, “You want to give a speech…? Well, you can get on when they give you a slot, alright?” and then told him to sit down.
That’s not a way to influence people and make friends.
Then, he made matters worse when he said, “The truth of the matter is, you know, no matter what happens in whichever direction we go, people in my generation have already made it,” Ramaswamy said. “We’re gonna be fine. It’s gonna be your generation…that pays the price.”
Ramaswamy said “peace out” and abruptly walked off the stage as he was serenaded with boos and derision.
A ‘deplorables’ sized disaster
So Ramaswamy, appearing before what should have been a receptive and cowed crowd, in essence says this: “I got mine, you losers.”
That’s a disaster that’s right up there with Hillary Clinton’s “deplorables.”
It’s the type of comment that will haunt him through this campaign and harm him should he win. Every time he says “my generation” it will become shorthand for oblivious billionaire elites like him who believe his generation has made it and denigrates those who haven’t.
In this economy, the message is as subtle as being hit in the head with a brick. He says Americans have a choice of winning or whining, which is easy to say for someone who flies around the state in a private jet and flaunts his wealth.
But it’s insulting to people working two and three jobs. Do those folks say they’re tired and stressed and would love a 20-minute break to recharge before they take care of their children? That’s not whining. That’s trying to keep a family together.
Ramaswamy’s still favored to win because it’s hard to beat a Republican with deep pockets.
He and his associated PACS can flood television with misleading ads that ostracize his opponent, Democrat Amy Acton, for seeking mental health counseling to cope with childhood sexual abuse. (He and his team may not know if, but that ad disgusts a lot of Republicans and some see it as disqualifying.)
With every flub, unforced error, holier-than-thou comment, Ramaswamy reinforces his image as an unaware, obnoxious and unlikeable elite trying to buy his way into office.
Here we sit, less than two months before early voting starts, with the race within the polling margin of error. That’s the fault of Ramaswamwey, who, for a smart guy, can’t get out of his way.
If he’s not careful, he’ll be on the short end of one of the biggest upsets in state political history.
Ray Marcano is a Columbus Dispatch contributing columnist. The longtime journalist is the former national president of the Society of Professional Journalists, a two-time Pulitzer juror, and a Fulbright fellow.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ramaswamy will be haunted by ‘winners or whiners’ deplorables-like speech | Opinion
Reporting by Ray Marcano, Contributed Commentary / The Columbus Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Ray Marcano, Contributed Commentary | USA TODAY Network
