Vivek Ramaswamy is a GOP Presidential nomination hopeful and … not a politician. He’s wealthy entrepreneur with degrees in biology and law. His disregard for the law is, therefore, shocking in this answer to a question put to him on Meet the Press:
“What I would have said is: This is a moment for a true national consensus where there’s two elements of what’s required for a functioning democracy in America,” he said. “One is secure elections, and the second is a peaceful transfer of power. When those things come into conflict, that’s an opportunity for heroism.”
Ramaswamy said if he had been in Pence’s position, he would have pushed “reforms” through Congress before he certified the election.
“Here’s what I would have said: ‘We need single-day voting on Election Day, we need paper ballots, and we need government- issued ID matching the voter file.’ And if we achieve that, then we have achieved victory and we should not have any further complaint about election integrity. I would have driven it through the Senate,” he said.
“In my capacity as president of the Senate, I would have led through that level of reform, then on that condition certified the election results, served it up to the president — President Trump — then to sign that into law. And on January 7th, declared the re-election campaign pursuant to a free and fair election,” he said. “I think that was a missed opportunity.”
But it does feel like something that a fixer, rather than a politician, would say, especially one unfamiliar with the political landscape. I’ve done similar things in a technical landscape, plunging in and having to be rebuffed because my fixes would have blown way things up, and I wasn’t informed enough to see that. His answers assumes the VP has legal powers that are not actually available, both in the Senate and while counting the electoral vote; and it assumes illegalities occurred during the election that have not been proven in a court of law, despite vigorous pursuit by Trump lawyers.
Indeed, developments in the investigation of the former President suggests the opposite.
But that’s not the point. The point is that Ramaswamy seems to be one of those who rush in without much thought. He doesn’t think about the Senate leaders who’d protest his meddling, the specification of the VP’s roles, and, most importanly, the why of how things are.
It’s great to be all fast and loose as an entrepreneur. Politics in a democracy are a different matter. And Ramaswamy doesn’t seem to quite understand that.
