Here’s Why Vivek Ramaswamy Is Becoming Unpopular With Republican Voters

GOP candidate Vivek Ramaswamy is seeing a serious decline in popularity among Republicans. Polls from two early states where a significant number of the candidates come from demonstrate the tech tyro's increasing unlikability. Ramaswamy's favorability ratio in Iowa declined from 38 percent/20 percent in August to 43 percent/37 percent in October, according to the reliable Iowa Poll by Ann Selzer. It seems getting to know him better does not appear to equate to loving him more for voters.

At least some of South Carolina's Vivekphobia can be attributed to the verbal sparring he engaged in with Nikki Haley, a native of the Palmetto State, at the first GOP presidential debate. Their antagonistic relationship erupted once more over their divergent opinions over the Israel-Palestine conflict, per the New York Magazine.

Ramaswamy's insults are not limited to Haley. During the first candidate debate, he declared that climate change isn't real while calling all of the other contenders "bought out." Ramaswamy declared, “I’m the only person on this stage who isn’t bought and paid for.”

The debating crowd, who had been cheering on for Ramaswamy earlier, promptly booed him after that statement. It was a tiny representation of how people perceived him while he was campaigning. Ramaswamy, who at first came across as boisterous, refreshing, and fascinating, and a welcome addition to a field of tiresome politicians attempting to be more responsible than former president Donald Trump.

But as time passed, he revealed himself to be an arrogant know-it-all, making off-the-cuff policy prescriptions that revealed he didn't know much at all.

Take his stance on the Russia-Ukraine war for instance, where he tried to convince people that it's a good “plan” to “sell out” Ukraine in exchange for Russia breaking ties with China. Many people slammed his policy unawareness, with policy analysts claiming it's extremely unlike that this could work. Analyst Ed Kilgore, for instance, called it “something an Adderall-fueled college student might come up with while playing Risk in a dorm room late at night” in a piece in the New York Magazine.

It appears that arrogant and overconfident behavior doesn't make a good impression on voters. Stated differently, Trump imitators like Ramaswamy find it less useful to model themselves completely after Trump, who frequently gets away with saying extremely provocative things.

It's easy to see why Ramaswamy hasn't been able to hold onto the positive early impressions he received from a sizable section of the primary electorate when you take into account the dissatisfaction of other candidates in the race. Still, should a second Trump administration materialize, other candidates will surely not be able to impede Ramaswamy's trajectory toward a Cabinet post, an ambassadorship, or even a candidacy for state government in Ohio in the unlikely event that Trump loses. It's important to remember that personality counts, especially in the Republican Party of today.