Republican presidential hopeful and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy is offering a deal to his supporters that he believes could upend political fundraising in the U.S.: Every supporter who brings Ramaswamy a donor will get a 10% cut of the donation. Ramaswamy has dubbed the kickback deal "Vivek's Kitchen Cabinet" and called the offer "a revolution" in grassroots campaigning. It could also be described as bringing the gig economy to ground-level, small-donor politics.
"As a political outsider and first-time candidate, I was stunned to discover the degree to which the political class cashes in on the electoral process. I found out that most professional political fundraisers get a cut of the money they raise — why should they monopolize political fundraising? They shouldn't," the 37-year-old Ramaswamy, viewed as an extreme long shot for the 2024 GOP nomination, said in a Monday video release. As reported Monday by Politico, any would-be political gig workers will have to clear a background check with Ramaswamy's campaign before they can start earning affiliate commissions. Politico also reports that Ramsawamy has already spent $10.5 million of his own money on his run and is prepared to spend as much as $100 million for it. His fundraising solution, he says, follows a pattern that has informed his business practices from the beginning: a commission-based, gig-economy model.
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