The American never-ending obsession with elections rolls on and there’s only fifteen months to go before the next one. Sigh. Once that is out of the way the neurosis about the 2026 midterms will spring up. It is a weird and exasperating national trait which someone will someday explain to me – and costs a stupendous amount of money, better spent elsewhere.
The second rankers have been jostling for attention in the hope that one of the geriatrics may fall over or be imprisoned.
Vivek Ramaswamy, a businessman (pharma) and candidate, 9 August 1985 as befits a brash Mars, Sun, Mercury in Leo has been blowing his trumpet at full volume. His Mars opposes Jupiter and squares Pluto, with similarities to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, born three weeks later. VR’s Sun Mercury squares Saturn in Scorpio with perhaps a Taurus Moon and North Node tied into a T Square. There is nothing (without a birth time) to suggest cheer for him moving ahead – indeed there will be disappointments this year and next and worse in 2025.
Nikki Haley, 20 January 1972, with a late Capricorn Sun in a redoubtable Grand Trine to Saturn in Taurus trine Pluto is no one’s push over. Her Grand Trine is formed into a Kite by Saturn opposition Neptune, making Neptune the leading planet, not always helpful for a politician. She’ll have a few blips of good luck up to May 2024 but not much thereafter.
The interesting one is Glenn Youngkin, 9 December 1966, Governor of Virginia, who has not yet thrown his hat into the ring. He has a Sagittarius Sun conjunct Venus on the focal point of a T square to Saturn in Pisces opposition Uranus Pluto in Virgo.
He has his Solar Arc Jupiter conjunct his Mars exactly over the Inauguration which will give him a boost and he’ll be on a lucky roll from March 2025 for two years after with tr Pluto opposition his Jupiter; and more good fortune comes from June 2025 on in 2026. He looks lacklustre up to this coming New Year and has mixed fortunes before the election – with a lucky break in August to late September 2024 though that runs side by side with a disaster or two. If the election was in 2025 it would suit him better and his triumphs may be in another field. But he certainly looks in better fettle than the other two.
Just a spare thought – the election itself will be held on a bitterly hostile Mars opposition Pluto, with a need-for-a-change Uranus trine Pluto. The Inauguration is also blighted by Sun Pluto opposition Mars with a downbeat Venus conjunct Saturn. The mood will be exceedingly strained.
I agree with Marjorie’s opinion about elections being grossly, outrageously expensive here in the U.S. When I think of what most of that money could be used for instead (like: improving our healthcare system, our public libraries, our public schools, helping the needy, helping Ukraine, etc.) it disappoints me that it’s going to buy campaign ads, etc. instead.
Marj: If the election was in 2025 it would suit him better and his triumphs may be in another field. But he certainly looks in better fettle than the other two.
In Virginia, governors can’t run for consecutive terms so whatever good fortune he has has nothing to do with being governor of Virginia after his term ends in January 2025.
Maybe a Republican wins the 2024 election and he is nominated for some Cabinet post or he is elected to become chairman of the RNC or some other major political post within the GOP.
Roderick, I was thinking the same thing about Youngkin, along with the possibility of being selected as the VP running mate by the GOP candidate. No doubt change is in the air, although the atmosphere will be filled with stress, and strain on Election Day!
@Jeanie Yours seems a logical explanation, but in this case it’s not true; any student of American history will tell you Americans have been obsessed with elections since Colonial days, when news was disseminated via hand-printed handbill and town crier. The novelty and energy of self-government after having escaped a flaccid and confining monarchy helped elevate elections and campaigning into a sort of cross between a civic religion and a favorite sport, and we’ve never lost that completely (although the Bush II years did inspire a worrying apathy).
Believe it or not, despite all the pearl-clutching about violent rhetoric, American politics nowadays is mostly (well, maybe with the exception of Trump) much more sedate than it was in the 18th and 19th centuries (and a good bit of the 20th). It used to be much more like war.
Thank you for these readings
Glenn Youngkin, though very conservative, is considered to be one of the more “traditional” Republicans in his party. He has indeed tried to distance himself from Donald Trump and the QAnon cult – which is wise of him, considering he is representing Virginia as governor (which is now a moderate Democratic state).
I’m wondering what Youngkin’s good fortunes could indicate. I know he can’t run for reelection in 2025 because Virginia has an odd stipulation in place: governors are not allowed to run for consecutive terms. Youngkin is allowed to run for reelection in 2029 though.
This reading on Vivek Ramaswamy appears to be in line with the readings done on him by various Vedic astrologers. None of the Vedic astrologers saw Ramaswamy going anywhere next year despite his recent rise in the polls.
Personally, I have my own theory as to why Ramaswamy won’t gain much traction. Despite the fact that Ramaswamy is seen as a political outsider and a populist who holds some very extreme far-right views, he still doesn’t fit the profile of what the Republican base wants as a candidate. White Evangelical Christians make up one of the most ardent and solidified voting blocks in the Republican Party. And even though many White Evangelicals might like some of the controversial positions Ramaswamy holds or some of the rhetoric he spouts, they don’t necessarily like him.
White Evangelicals (especially here in the Southern United States) tend to align with identity politics and they tend to prefer White, conservative, Christian (ideally Evangelical or Protestant) cisgender male or female candidates in elections. Granted, that’s not always the case – they will occasionally vote for conservative African-American Christian candidates. However, Ramaswamy comes from a Hindu family and he is still a practicing Hindu. That might pose a problem for him going into the GOP Primaries.
And this may come as a surprise to those who don’t live in an area where there is a large concentration of Evangelicals, but I’ve noticed many Evangelicals here in North Florida hold more favorable views of Judaism and Islam (two religions they often seem to be at odds with) than they do of Hinduism. This is mainly because they’re aware of the “Abrahamic” and “monotheistic” (though one could argue that Christians are not as “monotheistic” as they like to believe themselves to be) connections. Some Evangelicals see Hinduism and other Dharmic Religions as silly “pagan” and “idol worshiping” faiths.
So, unless Vivek Ramaswamy manages to break through the White Evangelical “firewall” in the Republican Party, he’s likely on the same route to nowhere like most of the other Republican candidates.
There was an interesting article recently published in Christianity Today about where Ramaswamy stands with the voters. The article reports that many White Evangelicals are still unfamiliar with him….but Indian-American Christian voters (a voting block we don’t often hear about but do make up a segment of the GOP base) are not at all impressed with him. So, this should be interesting.
Any of the people I hear talk of VR are wary of him. NOT because of his race or religion, but because of his business ties to Pharma. Most believe him to be a Trojan horse Bush player.
@ Harmony,
I’ve heard the same about his Pharma connections. However, I have also met quite a few Republican (conservative Christian) voters who actually are bothered by the fact that Vivek Ramasamy comes from a Hindu family – they’ve convinced themselves that he would by more loyal to the “Hindutva” movement rather than the Christian-right movement.
Marjorie, interesting perspective on Glenn Youngkin, a Republican who has won recently in Virginia, which is rapidly becoming a Democrat state, due to the expanding Washington DC suburbs in Virginia. He may be a rising star in the GOP, if they move past Trumpism.
And as for the US obsession with elections, I can think of at least one regular contributor in the chats who can likely give it a go. I think it is a case of a world superpower being so divided that it is almost internally hamstrung by its obsession with “checks and balances”.
my take on the US election obsession: driven purely by the modern for-profit media, who need perpetual campaigns with their paid advertising horse races to fund their 24/7 industry
Good grief Rachana, what ugly, derogatory & racist comments.
Your comment is not only ignorant but highly offensive to every ethnic group.
A helpful advise – please don’t ever say such things on public forums again.
@Ann I think we only have to consider Rishi Sunak who is from an ethnic minority and a shining example of a dedicated Prime Minister, and then there is the Taoseich in Ireland and so on.
The Prime Minister of Portugal, António Costa, is also of partial Indian descent. The Indian diaspora definitely punching above its weight and presence in Europe.