The 2024 GOP caucuses in Iowa ended pretty much precisely as so many had predicted. The polls were not “massively off” and while the nasty weather no doubt kept some people home, the forecasted numbers didn’t shift significantly. Donald Trump finished with more than half of the vote while DeSantis and Halley trailed in the low 20s and high teens respectively. Never making it out of single digits, Vivek Ramaswamy (“rhymes with cake”) suspended his campaign after the results were announced and endorsed Trump. But before we bid our final farewells to Ramaswamy, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on his effort and potential future in politics. The New York Post had the details last night.

Ramaswamy, who had promised a “shock” result up until the last possible moment, was quick to see the writing on the wall Monday night.

“We’ve looked at it every which way, and I think it is true that we did not achieve the surprise that we wanted to deliver tonight, and I think that that’s just a hard fact that we’re going to have to accept,” he told supporters.

“As of this moment, we are going to suspend this presidential campaign,” added Ramaswamy before announcing that Trump had “my full endorsement for the presidency.”

I will confess that I enjoyed following Vivek’s campaign and watched many interviews and debates where he spoke. That’s not because I ever expected him to wind up winning the nomination or the presidency, but primarily because he was a fresh face with a different approach. He was fun to watch and I think he injected some interesting ideas into the debate at times.

To be sure, he made some mistakes along the way. He was a complete outsider without any sort of preexisting campaign structure or organizational scheme. It doesn’t matter how much of a “natural politician” you may be. Building a national campaign framework is challenging. He did a lot of self-funding, which makes things somewhat easier, but he was still largely a one-man show, and that’s hard to pull off at the national level.

Vivek also appeared to fall into the trap of trying overly hard to create campaign “moments” to catch the media’s attention when his support failed to swell as the campaign ground on. In an effort to differentiate himself from DeSantis and Halley, he began saying some rather shocking things that veered toward the territory of conspiracy theories. Looking at his final numbers, that strategy clearly didn’t do him any favors in Iowa.

None of that diminishes the fact that Vivek is a young, smart, successful guy with a solid grasp of the issues. You are free to debate whether success in the business world would automatically translate to success in government leadership (though it seemed to work out okay for Trump), but Ramaswamy is miles ahead of Joe Biden in terms of both cognitive skills and strategic thinking. His appearance and tenor are well suited for television, which never hurts in the modern era. He was a bit late to the game in terms of his conservative principles, but that happens to many people as they age.

Will this be the last we see of Vivek Ramaswamy on the political stage? That’s tough to say. The guy is only 38 years old so he could make many more trips to the well and be wiser for the experience he gained in this primary effort. But I’m not at all sure that he will. He obviously had a great deal of faith in himself and believed that people would come around if he just put in the work to get his message across. Finishing with just 7% in his first caucus and throwing in the towel had to have been a bitter pill to swallow. It’s possible that he’s had his first serious taste of national politics and is leaving the table without very good memories. I won’t be shocked if he gets back to his normal business affairs and leaves the swamp to the rats and gators.