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Measuring the Vivekquake

News and notes on what really went down in Milwaukee: despondent donors, missed signals, defensive DeSantis, and the possibility of a Trump-Vivek ticket.

Ramaswamy’s success on the debate stage was yet another reminder that the G.O.P. establishment is largely out of touch with primary voters.
Ramaswamy’s success on the debate stage was yet another reminder that the G.O.P. establishment is largely out of touch with primary voters. Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images
Tara Palmeri
August 25, 2023

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For the Republican establishment and donor class—the post-Bush Bushies who fantasize of a Glenn Youngkin presidency (tax cuts, carried interest, Episcopalianism, etcetera)—last night in Milwaukee was a reminder that the real world exists outside the country club gates. This cohort, which was desperately pining for a post-Robot Ron alternative to take on Donald Trump, instead found that what the people really want appears to be motor-mouthed biotech founder Vivek Ramaswamy. (Alas, DeSantis’s sclerotic performance hardly delivered the sort of charismatic political warrior poetry that the G.O.P. establishment, including Mitch McConnell, once considered inevitable.)