It’s that time again; U.S. presidential elections. This is the second edition to my election series which I previously started for the last election in 2020. The overall framework of this series is to use Vivek Ramaswamy’s 10 truths. Vivek Ramaswamy has very openly and strongly expressed his beliefs in 10 simple bullet points, and I’ll be using these to analyze each candidate’s values. (This goes for both parties)
10 Truths as per Vivek Ramaswamy:
- God is real
- There are two genders
- Human flourishing requires fossil fuels
- Reverse racism is racism
- An open border is no border
- Parents determine the education of their children
- The nuclear family is the greatest form of governance known to mankind
- Capitalism lifts people up from poverty
- There are three branches of the U.S. government, not four
- The U.S. constitution is the strongest guarantor of freedoms in history
These points will be used to categorize as well as compare each candidate and each of their views on each of these points, allowing for me- as well as you- to decide which candidate you’d most likely want to support based on similar aligning views. Following the analysis of each point, I’m going to discuss the effect these beliefs play in politics as well as in every day life. This part will be discussed from my point of view, as a teenager.
The candidates will be formatted into a table at the end with their position on each of these 10 truths, as shown below. Although the table below consists of only Republican potential candidates, I’ll be discussing both Democratic and Republican candidates the best I can.
| Candidates | Abortion | Economy | Foreign Policy | Immigration | Other |
| Donald Trump | Pro-life | America first; China as a business partner, not political peer | America first; long term benefits for American citizens | Against illegal immigration, US-Mexico wall | Pro-guns (2nd Amendment) |
| Ron DeSantis | Supported bills restricting access to abortion, stopped short of saying he would support a federal ban | Cut individual taxes, slash government spending, “American energy independence” and rollback of electric vehicles | Opposes additional US involvement in Ukraine, reduce economic ties with “communist China”, the US would no longer “kowtow to Wall Street” | Eliminate the visa lottery and limit “unskilled immigration” | Frequently “touted his opposition to gender-affirming care for trans people and other public health measures such as mask mandates” |
| Vivek Ramaswamy | Pro-life, would not back a national abortion ban | US should abandon its climate goals to drive down energy costs and boost its GDP, in favor of some corporate and individual tax cuts | Criticized US aid to Ukraine, saying it is strengthening Russia’s alliance with China | deport “universally” and end birthright citizenship for children of undocumented immigrants (who would then be required to apply to become a citizen) | |
| Tim Scott | Pro-life, would support a national 15-week ban | Tax cuts and stronger economic competition with China. Championed legislation establishing “opportunity zones” which are meant to increase economic development in low-income areas by incentivizing private investment | Supports continued US aid to Ukraine, says Biden has not done enough. “Soft on China” | In favor of a wall along US southern border to curb illegal migration and drug trafficking | |
| Nikki Haley | Pro-life, federal abortion ban “unrealistic” | Opposes raising national debt limit, “veto spending bills that don’t put America on track to reach pre-pandemic spending” | Labeled Chinese Communist party an “enemy”, criticized Trump for trying to befriend Chinese president | Vowed to tighten security at US-Mexico border, add 25,000 patrol agents, require companies to verify employees’ status online. | |
| Chris Christie | Not support federal abortion ban | Targeted “excessive government spending” as the reason for inflation and floated cuts to social security, including Medicare | Tough on China-and-Russia, support for continued US aid to Ukraine | ||
| Mike Pence | Pro-life, in favor of six-week abortion ban | Boosting US economy, employment high and inflation low (focus solely on reducing inflation), advocated for cutting social security benefits | Advocated for continued US aid to Ukraine | Vowed to finish the border wall | |
| Doug Burgum | Pro-life, not support a national ban | Prioritize growing the country’s tech and energy sectors | Winning “Cold War with China” is important | Supports stricter restrictions of migration. Says Biden “hasn’t done enough to secure the US-southern border” | |
| Asa Hutchinson | Pro-life, support a national ban | Floated extreme measures to balance the federal budget and reduce debt including cutting federal non-military workforce by 10% | Would not cut economic ties with China, advocated for more action to counter China’s threat against Taiwan, | Supports harsh restrictions on immigration |
So let’s get into our ACTUAL first post of this series with the first truth; God is Real.