Vivek Ramaswamy: The Rise Of The Silver Surfer

The art of protecting the winner so you don't lose

Every presidential primary ends with the arrival of Galactus, the Devourer of Worlds.

This giant, insatiable entity is unbeatable, dwarfing all other competitors in size and strength. Sometimes that is obvious early, other times it takes a bit. But just as reliable are lower-polling candidates playing the part of Galactus’ herald. The cosmic being who searches for Galactus’ targets: The Silver Surfer.

These Marvel characters, born of Jack Kirby and Stan Lee in the 1960s have a rich history I could bore you with but if you have no idea what the previous two paragraphs meant… here is the short version:

When the Silver Surfer shows up, you know you are the target Galactus wants the most.

Galactus comes to your planet. Galactus eats your planet. That’s it. 

In our current GOP primary, our Galactus is Donald Trump. He is a folklore hero amongst a core demographic of Republicans. He has a massive lead in the polls, at least while we are on the dark side of the moon when it comes to post-DeSantis launch polling. He looks unstoppable.

And if there is a Galactus, there is of course, a Silver Surfer. A candidate who is theoretically a competitor to the front runner and yet is already playing the long game. They assume the front runner will win and want to skip to the part where they are rewarded for not attacking them when it mattered. Moreover, they want preferential treatment for attacking the front runner’s enemies when it mattered too. 

And so, meet Vivek Ramaswamy… the Silver Surfer to Donald Trump’s Galactus.

A man who this weekend has been hammering chief Trump rival Ron DeSantis on his resume as Florida governor. That is something the DeSantis team needs Republican voters to believe is the differentiator between their guy and the rest.

I very much appreciate upstart campaigns and I think that Vivek is running a good one. He’s charismatic, knows his issues and seems to be a smart guy. 

So smart, I believe he knows he’s not going to be president. 

So smart, I believe he thinks Donald Trump is the most likely GOP politician to take the White House in 2024. 

So smart, I believe his antagonizing of Ron DeSantis will help him notch credibility in the slog of primary war but also gain favor in the coming Trump 2.0 regime. 

It's a dance as old as politics itself. Silver Surfer candidates circle the political arena, their rhetoric and attacks focused not on the Galactus in the room, but on the enemies of this behemoth. For DeSantis it’s his commitment to the larger conservative mission and his record in Florida. Without those, he is nothing. Vivek has hit him on both charges.

Silver Surfer candidates can criticize the front runner but never dare mention Galactus' true weaknesses. For Trump that is his electability, what most polls still show as the biggest fear for GOP primary voters. Vivek has yet to challenge Trump on that and I don’t believe he will.

And why should he? The primary is a stage, an opportunity to elevate one's stature, a chance to ride the cosmic currents and perhaps gain a sliver of Galactus' power. For those lower on the polls or new to the political sphere, this strategy is a golden ticket.

We saw this dynamic play out in the Democratic primary of 2019 and 2020. 

First, Joe Biden was no Galactus at the start. There were plenty of pot shots taken at the man Obama cucked in favor of Hillary in 2016. But as the dust settled, the old dog was the most recognizable centrist and the only other option for mainstream Democrats. Without settling on someone, the party would belong to Bernie Sanders who would not only bring an electability question but would also turn over the entire power structure in Democratic politics.  

So did he ever gain a Silver Surfer?

Kamala Harris, in the 2020 primary, attempted the opposite. She called Biden a racist to his face during her first debate, aiming not to surf the wave but to become the wave herself. This was brutal. It is not pleasant to be called a racist on television and then have the person who did it sell t-shirts about it. This was electorally damaging because Biden’s coalition relies heavily on the black vote.

Kamala was not a Silver Surfer. And yet, despite the unsightly conflict, she still ended up as the Vice President, a decision swayed more by demographics than by political influence. After all, Biden’s coalition relies heavily on the black vote and having a black woman on the ticket helped cement that.

On the other hand, Andrew Yang could have been the ideal Silver Surfer in the 2020 election. He cuts a similar figure to Vivek as a political novice with big ideas and infinite energy for podcast appearances. But despite nice words between the candidates, Yang never rode hard enough for Biden. Had he been a better Surfer he would have attacked Biden’s biggest obstacle Bernie Sanders, but Yang refrained. You can’t prove a negative, so we have no idea what would be different in a universe where Yang was more aggressive to Biden’s enemies. But he ended the 2020 election campaigning for Democrats in Georgia only to find no home in the Biden administration. One failed New York City mayoral run later, Yang’s influence diminished further. He left the Democratic party and is leading the third party (Forward) his former friends are not worried about (that would be the No Labels movement).

In the end, the person who most effectively aided Biden in 2020 was Elizabeth Warren. She never destroyed Biden on stage like she did Mike Bloomberg. She tarred Bernie as a sexist in a hilariously staged “live mic” moment further depriving the progressive frontrunner a demographic he desperately needed. But most importantly, she did not drop out of the race before Super Tuesday after all of the moderates fell behind Biden. Bernie’s only hope was to consolidate the progressives and Warren’s insistence to stay in prevented it.

There is no shame in being smart about your career and there is no bigger launching pad for a political career than a presidential primary. 

And sometimes, the smartest thing is finding someone else a planet to eat.