在潮湿多风的一天，公园里的有顶野餐区显然不是举行政治集会的理想场所，因此很难指责特拉华县共和党成员们缺乏热情。10月10日，在哥伦布郊区的一次活动中，大约75人坐下来听候选人和当地警察官员发表了一个小时的演讲。活动的亮点是维韦克·拉马斯瓦米，他是一位制药业亿万富翁、前总统候选人，也是该党的州长候选人。他承诺将成为一位公正且独立的领导人。“你不能只告诉[人们]他们想听的话，”他说。
A covered picnic area in a park on a damp, blustery day is hardly an ideal location for a political rally, so it was difficult to fault the members of the Delaware County Republican Party for their muted enthusiasm. At an event in a suburb of Columbus on October 10th some 75 people sat through an hour of speeches by candidates and local police officials. The highlight of the show was Vivek Ramaswamy, a pharmaceutical billionaire and former presidential candidate who is the party’s candidate for governor. He promised to be an even-handed and independent leader. “You don’t just tell [people] what they want to hear,” he said.
在他不超过15米远的地方，很容易找到他支持者不愿听到的观点。在相邻的儿童游乐场，39岁的科技工作者贾里德·赫斯勒正陪着年幼的儿子，他解释说自己不会投票给拉马斯瓦米。他过去曾投共和党票，但在过去的两次选举中，他转向了民主党，并对民主党候选人艾米·阿克顿充满热情。“我可以说，主要动力就是对[唐纳德]·特朗普感到厌倦透顶，”他说。
No more than 15 metres away, it was easy to find views that Mr Ramaswamy’s crowd did not want to hear. In an adjacent children’s playground Jared Hessler, a 39-year-old technology worker who was with his young son, explained that he will not be voting for Mr Ramaswamy. He used to vote Republican, but over the past two elections he has pivoted towards the Democrats and is enthusiastic about Amy Acton, the Democratic candidate. “I would say that the main driving force is just being so sick and tired of [Donald] Trump,” he says.
这种情绪对拉马斯瓦米来说是个问题。任期限制的俄亥俄州共和党州长迈克·德怀恩在2022年获得了62%的选票，而唐纳德·特朗普在该州连续三次赢得选举。如今，大多数民调显示阿克顿医生略微领先。拉马斯瓦米对俄亥俄州的温和派来说太“MAGA”了，而对许多共和党人来说又不够“MAGA”。
That sentiment is a problem for Mr Ramaswamy. Mike DeWine, Ohio’s term-limited Republican governor, won 62% of the vote in 2022 and Donald Trump has won the state in three consecutive elections. Now most polls show Dr Acton slightly in the lead. Mr Ramaswamy is proving too MAGA for Ohio’s moderates and not MAGA enough for many Republicans.
特拉华县是俄亥俄州最富裕、受教育程度最高的县。不久前，它还是该州共和党的中心。2004年，该县居民支持乔治·W·布什的优势达到32个百分点。但随着该地区城市化程度提高和多样化增加，它逐渐转向蓝色。到2024年，特朗普的领先优势已降至七个百分点以下。
Delaware County is the richest and best-educated in Ohio. Not long ago it was also at the heart of Republicanism in the state. In 2004 its residents favoured George W. Bush by 32 points. But as it has become more built up and diverse, it has shifted blue. By 2024 Mr Trump’s margin was under seven points.
拉马斯瓦米身上有一些特质，理应能吸引那些对“让美国再次伟大”运动持保留态度的郊区共和党人。在他的演讲中，他更强调为企业减税，而非驱逐非法移民。作为印度移民的后代，他赞赏那些合法进入美国的人，并支持移民改革。去年，他在《纽约时报》上发表文章，严厉批评了本党内的本土主义派别。他的许多竞选团队成员此前曾为约翰·卡西奇效力，后者是一位温和派共和党人，曾在2011年至2019年间担任俄亥俄州州长。
Mr Ramaswamy has some traits that should appeal to suburban, MAGA-sceptic Republicans. In his speeches, he emphasises cutting taxes for businesses more than deportation. The son of Indian immigrants, he celebrates people who come to America legally and backs immigration reform. Last year he issued a stark criticism of his party’s nativist wing in an article for the New York Times. Many of his campaign staff previously worked for John Kasich, a moderate Republican who served as Ohio’s governor from 2011 to 2019.
然而实际上，由于与一位不受欢迎的总统关系密切，拉马斯瓦米的形象仍受损——过去一个月里，他曾两次与该总统一同出席集会。在最近一场俄亥俄州立大学橄榄球赛前的赛前聚会上（这种世俗活动已近乎神圣仪式了），很容易就能找到前共和党支持者，却很难见到拉马斯瓦米的支持者。“虽然我是共和党人，但我这次绝对会把票投给民主党，”一位名叫黛比的热情中年女子说道。
In practice, however, he remains tainted by his links to an unpopular president with whom he has appeared at two rallies in the past month. At a tailgate party at a recent Ohio State football game (as close as a secular event can come to being sacred), former Republicans were easy to find. Ramaswamy voters were not. “I am going Democrat all the way, even though I’m a Republican,” said one enthusiastic middle-aged tailgater named Debbie.
特朗普就是她改变立场的原因。“这届政府的种种荒唐行径彻底促使我做出了这个决定，”她补充道。目前，领导该州应对新冠疫情工作的阿克顿博士被视为温和派代表。2020年时，德温州长曾称她为“英雄”；如今特朗普却试图将她重新塑造成“极左翼疯子”。
Mr Trump is the reason why. “The insanity of this particular administration has just put me over the top,” she says. It is Dr Acton, who led the state’s response to covid, who is seen as the moderate. In 2020 Mr DeWine called her a “hero”. Mr Trump is trying to rebrand her as a “radical-left lunatic”.
拉马斯瓦米在右翼阵营也面临麻烦。在初选中，他的对手凯西·普奇手持步枪，邀请拉马斯瓦米“来玩牛仔对印第安人的游戏”；他还指责拉马斯瓦米是“一个印度教徒！”最终拉马斯瓦米轻松胜出，但普奇仍获得了18%的选票。白人至上主义播客主理人尼克·富埃特斯拥有大量忠实粉丝，他去年曾宣称自己2026年的首要目标就是“阻止维韦克·拉马斯瓦米当选州长”。本月，他公开支持阿克顿博士，还称拉马斯瓦米是“靠移民政策获益的人”。
Mr Ramaswamy has another problem, too, on his right. In the primary election his opponent, Casey Putsch, holding a rifle, invited Mr Ramaswamy to “play cowboys versus Indians”. He also attacked him for being “a HINDU man!”Mr Ramaswamy beat him handily, but Mr Putsch won 18% of the vote. Nick Fuentes, a white-nationalist podcaster with a devoted following, said last year that his main goal for 2026 was “to deny Vivek Ramaswamy the governorship”. This month he endorsed Dr Acton, calling Mr Ramaswamy an “anchor baby”.
左右两路皆受挤压，拉马斯瓦米只好采取极其低劣的竞选手段。与他的演讲内容不同，他本人以及支持他的超级政治行动委员会所发布的广告几乎全都围绕阿克顿博士展开。有人声称她是酒鬼兼瘾君子（依据的是警方记录中她与丈夫发生激烈争吵的报道）；还有人指责她在新冠疫情期间导致一名老妇人死亡（事实上那名老妇人一直生活在肯塔基州并在当地去世）。
Squashed on both sides, Mr Ramaswamy is resorting to an exceptionally ugly campaign. Unlike his speeches, his adverts and those of the SuperPACs supporting him concentrate almost exclusively on Dr Acton. Some allege she is a drunk and a drug addict (based on a police report of her having a shouting match with her husband).
倘若拉马斯瓦米成功当选州长，他很可能会再度竞选总统。不过，对于一个志在领导本党的人而言，他如今在党内似乎愈发迷失方向了。 ■
Others accuse her of being responsible for the death of an elderly woman during the covid pandemic (the woman had in fact lived and died in Kentucky). Mr Ramaswamy will probably run for president again if he does become governor. But for a man seeking to lead his party, he looks increasingly lost within it. ■