Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley is going after Vivek Ramaswamy. She’ll have plenty of company Wednesday night; Ramaswamy is surging in the polls making him, like Ron DeSantis, an obvious target at the GOP debate.

My guess: Ramaswamy will hold his own and then some. Why? Because Ramaswamy is super smart and is talking common sense. Boy does this country need a big dose of common sense!

Haley pillories Ramaswamy for pledging to cut off aid to Israel in 2028, saying he’s "walking away from America’s special alliance with Israel" – a headline-grabbing accusation. But Vivek would only do so, he explained in an interview, if his plan to negotiate peace between Israel and other Middle East nations is successful. If he fails, then Vivek would continue to support Israel’s defense. Common sense.

The political novice, who was virtually unknown six months ago, traffics in controversial statements (Haley also jumps on him for saying he would defund the FBI, for instance) but seems to say what a lot of Americans are thinking. As he recently told Fox Business’ Neil Cavuto: "I’d rather lose this race and speak truth at every step than to win by saying what I’m ‘supposed to.’"

RAMASWAMY FIRST TO RECEIVE ENDORSEMENT FROM A STATEWIDE IOWA OFFICIAL

An Emerson poll shows Ramaswamy at 10 percent of the vote, tied with DeSantis for second place. Five months ago he did not even register on the Real Clear Politics average of polls. Vivek is still miles away from catching up to Donald Trump, who in that poll has 56 percent of the vote.

Asked a few months ago how he might secure the nomination, the long-shot candidate said winning in Iowa and New Hampshire would be key. Currently, he is trailing far behind in both states.

But, like Bernie Sanders and other improbable political stars, Ramaswamy has authenticity – a vital attribute that money cannot buy. (Just ask Hillary Clinton.) Also, he is carrying zero political baggage and owes no one, having mostly financed his own campaign.

Ramaswamy recently introduced these ten bold "truths," as he calls them:

"1. God is real. 2. There are two genders. 3. Human flourishing requires fossil fuels. 4. Reverse racism is racism. 5. An open border is no border. 6. Parents determine the education of their children. 7. The nuclear family is the greatest form of governance known to mankind. 8. Capitalism lifts people up from poverty. 9. There are three branches of the U.S. government, not four. 10. The U.S. Constitution is the strongest guarantor of freedoms in history."

Liberals hate these opinions, because they shred the progressive double-think that is destroying our country. The kind of idiocy that says letting criminals go free will reduce crime. Or that an open border which allows deadly drugs to flood our nation is "humanitarian."

If Ramaswamy accomplished the unthinkable and became the GOP standard-bearer, would his likely Democrat opponents dare to debate these ten points?
Could Gretchen Whitmer credibly argue that socialism has lifted more people out of poverty than capitalism? Can Gavin Newsome pretend that any other system of government tops our own in protecting minority rights?

Could Joe Biden persuade an audience that Ramaswamy is wrong about parents’ preeminent role in their kids’ education or the importance of the nuclear family? Don’t get excited; Biden’s handlers would never let him appear on the same stage as Vivek.

So who is Vivek Ganapathy Ramaswamy? He was born in Cincinnati to first-generation immigrants from India. "Privilege", says Vivek, was "two parents in the house with a focus on education, achievement and actual values." His father is an engineer and patent lawyer and his mother is a geriatric psychiatrist.

Vivek was valedictorian of his high-school class, a nationally-ranked junior tennis player and an "accomplished" pianist. That information is listed on his entry for the Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans, a program initiated by George Soros’ late brother and his wife Daisy, both of whom came to this country as children, to honor immigrants and the children of immigrants. The program gives out funds to assist with graduate school for high-achieving young people "poised to make significant contributions to U.S. society, culture or their academic field."

And no, the prestigious award has nothing to do with George Soros.

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Vivek majored in biology at Harvard College, graduating Phi Beta Kappa in 2007. Later, he earned a law degree from Yale University.

While an undergrad, Vivek was chairman of Harvard’s Political Union and was one of three students chosen to help select the current president of Harvard. As a senior, Vivek co-founded StudentBusinesses.com, a tech company connecting entrepreneurs with professional resources online; the company was acquired in 2009.

Vivek Ramaswamy, chairman and co-founder of Strive Asset Management and 2024 Republican presidential candidate, speaks with a member of the media at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, Iowa, US, on Saturday, Aug. 12, 2023. Republican presidential hopefuls are crowding into Des Moines this weekend, hoping to make enough of an impression that voters will remember them come the Jan. 15 party caucuses. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

In 2014, Ramswamy founded Roivant Sciences, a biotech company dedicated to shepherding new pharmaceuticals through the regulatory and approval pipeline to commercialization. Due to the profitable launch of several drugs, and also to successfully structuring the firm so as to protect shareholders from some inevitable failures, Ramaswamy earned hundreds of millions of dollars. It is that windfall that is financing his run.

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Ramaswamy wants to rattle the establishment. Judging by the hit pieces coming from the New York Times and other usual suspects, he is enjoying some success. But his secret weapon may be that he is genial and unflappable. Faced recently with aggressive questioning at the Iowa State Fair by someone describing herself as a "pansexual", Ramaswamy delivered an impressive master class on what he calls the "tyranny of the minority," all the while celebrating that he and she could engage in a civil discussion because of the protections of this great country. They shook hands at the end.

The road to the nomination is long and full of potholes, especially for a first-time candidate. Tomorrow’s debate will be one of many tests for all the contenders. Vivek could emerge a real force in the race; the stakes could not be higher.

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