Right now there are two serious candidates for the GOP nomination for president in 2024.

One announced, and one still on the sidelines.

I am of course speaking of former President Trump and Governor Ron DeSantis. Nikki Haley jumped into the race the other day, and last night tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy jumped into the race.

Each of these other candidates is an impressive person with appealing qualities, but neither strikes me as a serious threat to the frontrunners. Former Governor Larry Hogan, of course, might upend the standings in the race should he decide to jump in, because as the twice-elected and surprisingly popular governor of Maryland he of course would light the world on fire.

Well, maybe not.

Today I’m launching not just a political campaign, but a cultural movement to revive American national identity itself.https://t.co/LcDB04ihNQ pic.twitter.com/koRfznikcQ

— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) February 22, 2023

Ramaswamy has been making the rounds in recent weeks making his pitch, and it has been an appealing one. Part Reagan’s economics, part DeSantis culture warrior, all optimism about the future. He is the author of “Woke, Inc.,” and has a message that will appeal to most Republicans.

What he doesn’t have is any name ID or experience in campaigning. And campaigning for president is uniquely difficult.

Still, you have to give him credit for both his ambition and his willingness to be bold.

Tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who announced his candidacy for president Tuesday during an interview with Fox News’ Tucker Carlson, has revealed what actions he intends to take on day one if elected president.

On Twitter Tuesday evening, just hours after becoming the third Republican in the 2024 race alongside former President Donald Trump and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, Ramaswamy said he would end Affirmative Action on the first day of a potential administration.

“As U.S. President, I will end federally mandated affirmative action – full stop,” he tweeted.

As U.S. President, I will end federally mandated affirmative action – full stop. I will repeal Lyndon Johnson’s Executive Order 11246 which mandates race-based quotas. Every Republican since Johnson had the opportunity to do it. I’ll do it on Day 1 without apology. https://t.co/zwMyInEcDh

— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) February 22, 2023

Sunak also faces the challenge that he is extremely young, at 37. It’s not impossible for a candidate this young to grab the attention of the public. Even Don Lemon might agree that he would represent a new generation of leadership, although it is unclear if he would qualify as being “in his prime.” As we know, the prime years for men and women are different according to Lemon.

Ramaswamy has a message that will appeal to modern conservatives, although he is a different sort of culture warrior than DeSantis, who focuses more on social issues. Still, he hits a lot of political erogenous zones for Republicans.

Ramaswamy, a political commentator and author of “Woke, Inc.: Inside Corporate America’s Social Justice Scam,” said America’s celebration of diversity has resulted in fragmenting the country and its residents having “forgot all the ways we’re really the same as Americans.”

“I think we need to put ‘merit’ back into ‘America’ in every spirit of our lives,” Ramaswamy continued in the interview.

Whatever his qualities as a messenger and as a candidate, he is unlikely to put a dent in the support for either Trump or DeSantis. Each of these candidates–DeSantis, as a potential, and Trump as a declared candidate–has die-hard advocates. Governor DeSantis has the advantage of being able to create news with his actions as governor, and Trump is…Trump.

Ramaswamy will face the challenge of simply being one in what looks to be a soon-crowded field of candidates.

It will be interesting to see what nickname Trump assigns him, although we can guess that Swamy will be in it somewhere.

On a side note, it’s fascinating that 2/3rds of the declared candidates for president on the Republican side are of Indian descent, and that the current Conservative Prime Minister of Great Britain is as well.

It is, I assume, a coincidence. But a hopeful one at that. It seems that conservatives’ political appeal to minority groups is expanding. Let’s hope that trend continues.