Ramaswamy campaigns in Greenfield

Vivek Ramaswamy, one of five still running for the GOP nomination for U.S. President, visited Greenfield for a Town Hall event at Hotel Greenfield Thursday, Dec. 14.

Ramaswamy said that blanket encounters potential voters see on major national television are “all very artificial” or “plastic,” and added he would much rather get out and meet with voters at events like these.

The enteprenuer turned politician has vowed to do a “full Grassley” tour twice, which means he plans to visit all 99 counties in Iowa twice. Senator Chuck Grassley has become known for doing this once each year during his long run of service.

Ramaswamy explained he’s genuinely worried for his two boys that the American dream, as it is still known today, won’t exist for them when they grow up unless Republicans step up to do something about it.

“We’re in the middle of an identity crisis in this country,” he said. “We’ve lost our sense of who we are.”

Ramaswamy said faith, patriotism, hard work and family values have disappeared. He said other things — wokeism, transgenderism, climatism, COVIDism, depression, anxiety, fentanyl and suicide — have all taken their place.

“They’re symptoms of a deeper void of purpose and meaning in our country,” Ramaswamy said.

He said he feels the Republican party has grown to be “lazy” in that they’ve become known for slinging insults and attacks on others but they won’t actually offer a vision to pair with the values they say they stand for.

“I want to see the Republican party not just run from something, we’ve gotta run to something,” Ramaswamy said. “We’ve gotta be the party that stands for the ideals of the American Revolution.”

He said standing for those ideals means asking ourselves what it means to be a citizen of the United States.

“To me, it means we stand for those 1776 ideals — ideals that say you get ahead in this country not on the color of your skin but the content of your character and your contributions,” Ramaswamy said.

Ramaswamy said that’s why he wants to do away with racial quota systems and make sure the United States has secured borders because of efforts by our own military forces.

The son of Indian immigrants, Ramaswamy said he appreciates “eplurbis unum” that is on American currency, a quote that means, “of many, one.”

He said he wants to work toward elections being entirely in person. In his mind, this would boost the trust Americans have in them and would increase the reliability of them.

One attendee asked Ramaswamy about a satanic display at the Iowa State Capitol that was recently called into question. He said that free speech not only protects speech we like, but also speech we hate.

“I’m never for banning speech, but part of what has happened is we’re not applying it evenhandedly. In the name of protecting against a tyranny of the majority, we now have a tyranny of the minority,” Ramaswamy said, acknowledging he believes America isn’t a place anymore where people are truly able to share their opinions or practice their own faith.

“I’m a little different than others in the Republican party who call for censorship of views they don’t agree with,” Ramaswamy said.

A Hindu who also attended Catholic school as a high-schooler, Ramaswamy shared about his faith and upbringing, and how they guide his desire for truth to come to light through his campaign.

He asked for the support of caucus-goers on caucus night Jan. 15. He feels that he, 38, has a unique perspective he could use to be the next president. He is the youngest Republican to ever run for president.

“In the next five years, the interest payments on our national debt will become the largest line item in our federal budget. If my sons are in high school before we get this right, I don’t think we have a country left,” Ramaswamy said. “I do think it’s going to take a leader from the next generation with fresh legs to lead from the front. That choice doesn’t belong to me, it belongs to you.”