Final thoughts: No one can complain that the moderators got in the way of their objectives this time. The moderators stuck mainly to GOP priorities for topics, offered multiple opportunities to make the case against Trump, and all five refused to take those openings. They certainly managed to act with significantly more dignity — except maybe for Ramaswamy — but they did  nothing to move the needle. Very, very disappointing.

8:57 – DeSantis almost repeats his first answer in this debate. Come on, man.

9:56 – Haley also goes with her canned closing argument.

9:55 – Ramaswamy also opts for his talking-point summation rather than address the polling front-runner.

9:54 – Oddly enough, Christie largely avoids it too. Another set of slogans you can read off his website.

9:53 – Scott offers up his stump speech, and ignores Holt’s exhortation.

9:52 – Final arguments. Lester Holt challenges them to take on Trump. Let’s see how many do.

9:52 – I also think this is the debate that focuses most on issues Republican primary voters care about.

Third break, 9:48 – Again, I think this may be the most substantive and interesting policy discussion/debate yet, but again, everyone on stage is missing the point. They don’t need to explain why voters should reject Ramaswamy or Christie, but why voters need to move their support from Trump. None of the five candidates have come close to making that argument, and until they do, they’re letting Trump win by default.

9:47 – Christie brings it back to federalism, and then talks about being “pro-life for the whole life.”

9:46 – I like Ramaswamy’s answer here, although he’s all over the place.

9:44 – Haley goes after Scott for not being realistic on the issue. Why? Is he really a threat to her candidacy?

9:42 – Haley also promotes a federalist approach and needs a cultural rather than a political solution. Scott, however, insists on a 15-week federal limit.

9:40 – Finally, the abortion and election question comes up. DeSantis remains firm on abortion but endorses federalism.

9:39 – A good answer from Ramaswamy and a nice moment with him and DeSantis agreeing that fentanyl-laced products are not overdoses but closer to “bioterrorism.”

9:36 – Haley again echoes what others have said, and promotes Trump’s border policies. But she does expand on Christie’s answer and wants to focus on mental-health issues. Good answer.

9:34 – DeSantis offers largely the same solutions, but promises to build the border wall by taxing remittances to Mexico, and promises to shoot fentanyl smugglers “stone cold dead.”

9:31 – Christie agrees with Scott on beefing up resources for ports of entry and says he’d also call up the National Guard, but he wants to beef up treatment programs to cut off the demand. How do you do that without involuntary commitment, though?

9:30 – Back from break and now coming back to the border and the opioid crisis. Scott argues that he will close the southern border on Day 1. He also wants to sanction the Mexican cartels, but their cash is not that easily impacted.

Second break, 9:27 – We’ve seen more fireworks in the debate, but not a lot of progress on the primary question of Trump. Haley called Ramaswamy “scum” for mentioning her daughter — correctly — but no one’s making a pitch for why voters should move away from Trump, still. Also interesting: no mention of abortion or what happened in yesterday’s elections, except for a brief moment at the very beginning on the latter.

9:25 – DeSantis is now discussing inflation vs growth in terms of its impact on Social Security and also discretionary spending. Those are also largely non-sequiturs, and in the end DeSantis says he’d oppose raising the retirement age.

9:24 – Scott also talks about cutting the discretionary spending, but that’s a drop in the bucket.

9:21 – I like zero-based budgeting too, but does Ramaswamy realize that presidents don’t do the budgeting? That’s up to Congress, which acts independently to craft appropriations.

9:18 – Interesting discussion of entitlement reforms. Christie offers a common-sense approach. Haley goes after Trump on this point — and DeSantis — for refusing to discuss reforms. Good answers from both, although both were ambiguous about specifics.

9:16 – Odd throwback to the shipbuilding question by Haley, not incorrect but kind of a non-sequitur and a lame look. Why didn’t she raise that at the time?

9:12 – Ramaswamy’s about land-use restrictions and that Republicans don’t talk about them often. But that’s because those are largely if not entirely local and state-based.

9:11 – DeSantis gives a good emotional appeal on what families are experiencing, emphasizing his middle class roots.

9:09 – Scott has a good moment in explaining what “futures markets” mean to Lester Holt.

9:07 – Scott says he’d approve the Keystone XL pipeline, but I think that project is dead now.

9:06 – Haley goes after DeSantis again, which is a great strategy for coming in second. Do any of these candidates realize they’re competing with Trump?

9:04 – Interesting question from Welker on Venezuela. DeSantis loops in energy issues, and says he’d turn the screws by drilling here and reimposing sanctions on Venezuela.

9:02 – Scott reminds everyone that courts blocked attempts to ban TikTok, and wants to focus on pushing out China’s ownership.

9:00 – Ramaswamy wants Republican candidates to be on TikTok. And now we have another Haley food fight, but in this case she was provoked.

8:59 – Haley instead returns to the attacks on her, and that starts food fight #1 between Haley and DeSantis. Ramaswamy then goes after Haley’s daughter, which is pretty low even for Ramaswamy.

8:58 – DeSantis has a good answer on this too, using his experience as a father of young kids.

8:55 – Back, and the next topic is TikTok. Again, a topic of interest for conservatives already, made even more acute with the explosion of anti-Semitism. Christie goes after Trump for not following through on blocking the app in the US.

First break, 8:51 – My impression is that the new rules are working to make the debate more productive and less personal. My other impression is that while these discussions are actually interesting and substantive, they are missing the point somewhat. Each of these candidates need to address the elephant in the GOP’s room more and discuss how their approach differs not from each other but from Trump. For DeSantis and Haley, that should be the default on every question, and they’re not grasping the moment.

8:48 – Christie gets a lot more specific than anyone else did on Hugh’s question about where and what a naval upgrade would go.

8:46 – Scott touches on something I’ve warned about often — we no longer have a manufacturing capacity to arm up heavily and rapidly. A very good answer. Ramaswamy has a good answer on that as well.

8:44 – DeSantis is also a little all over the place, but does return to the ship level. He then returns the slap at Haley and brings up her engagement with China as governor. That slap from Haley was ill-considered.

8:43 – Haley’s answer is a little all over the place, as she’s trying to squeeze in all of the China talking points, along with a slap at DeSantis.

8:42 – Hugh finally gets the China issue squarely on the table, and the deterioration of the US Navy in the Pacific. Great question.

8:41 – DeSantis is still avoiding the Ukraine issue, although at the end of his answer he calls for an end to the war in Ukraine. Great. How do we get that?

8:39 – Christie comes back with an excellent answer, and graciously includes Haley in his answer. His comment about “immaturity” is particularly apt.

8:38 – Haley slams Ramaswamy and then talks about the Russia-China-Iran alliance. Good answer.

8:35 – Ramaswamy claims credit for forcing the field into skepticism on Ukraine aid. He’s flat-out wrong on Luhansk and Donetsk, too. They are only under Russian control because Russia used proxies to seize those territories, which have been part of Ukraine for decades.

8:33 – Shifting to Ukraine. Scott supports aid for Ukraine but wants accountability for the spending and a separate funding bill for Israel. Brings in the border crisis. Welker tries to get a yes-or-no on a bill for Ukraine aid, but Scott insists on accountability for the spending first.

8:30 – Christie had a good answer, but I would have preferred more of a challenge to Holt’s framing of the issue, as DeSantis did. Haley talks about American values. That was a better approach.

8:28 – DeSantis has a good answer but ignored Ramaswamy’s comment. Holt then buys into the Islamophobia diversion in the very next question. Neither Hugh nor Kristen Welker have asked a question yet. Maybe each round will have a single moderator?

8:26 – Scott has a better answer on the anti-Semitism on college campuses than Ramaswamy.

8:24 – Interesting insight from Ramaswamy on anti-Semitism and wokery. And he makes a good point about censorship, a point on which DeSantis is at least somewhat vulnerable. Fair comment.

8:23 – DeSantis reminds people of his service in a war zone while insisting on making sure that any attacks on Americans will result in a devastating response.

8:22 – I enjoyed Haley’s slap back at Ramaswamy over his sneering comments about her heels. She’s right about Iran and Biden’s appeasement policies.

8:21 – Why is Matthew Brooks getting a question before Hugh?

8:19 – A good point by Christie on intel failures, and the need for the US to work more closely with Israel on those efforts.

8:18 – Scott gets back on topic, tying the issue to appeasement of Iran by Obama and Biden. This is a very smart answer, and makes Ramaswamy look childish — but I think advocating strikes on Iran may be hanging it out over the edge.

8:15 – Ramaswamy goes after the neocons. And then goes after Haley for being corrupt. “Dick Cheney in 3-inch heels” gets boos from the audience.

8:14 – Good answers from both DeSantis and Haley on Hamas: “Finish them.” Both of them have track records on this topic and are relying on those properly.

8:13 – The question set this time is starting off better than the last two debates. These are big issues for the Republican Party’s voters, not the media’s narrative crafters. We’re only on the second round, though.

8:11 – Tim Scott is doing pretty well too, but DeSantis and Haley were more direct about going after Trump than the other three, even Christie.

8:10 – Christie seems tentative at first, picked up a little steam at the end. He should have started on point first.

8:09 – On the other hand, I did enjoy his criticism of the media.

8:07 – Ramaswamy goes after … Ronna McDaniel. Not that she’s immune from criticism, but the question is about Trump.

8:06 – Good answer from Haley on Trump too, focusing on her experience on foreign policy and national security.

8:04 – DeSantis gets tough with Trump right off the bat. “I’m sick of Republicans losing!”

8:02 – They have new rules — no automatic response after getting mentioned. Maybe that will clean up the infighting.

8:01 ET: Welcome to the live blog! The stage looks colorful …

Original post follows …

… no candidates exit? Tonight we cover the third RNC presidential debate of the cycle, and the third without polling leader Donald Trump in attendance, starting at 8 pm ET tonight. NBC News partners up with Salem Media Group, our parent company, and included Salem Radio host Hugh Hewitt as a moderator, along with Lester Holt and Kristen Welker. It’s the first non-Fox debate of the cycle, and the most recent since the embarrassing  ‘Survivor’ stunt in September’s debate.

The Washington Post is horrified, of course. How can conservatives get a fair shake from Kristen Welker? Just kidding!

It was the Republican National Committee that assigned Salem to partner with NBC — and although Salem radio host Hugh Hewitt will serve as one of the moderators, NBC News will retain full editorial control over the questions asked, a network spokesperson said.

Still, Salem’s overtly political and rightward shift has raised questions about the undertaking. “This is a major mistake for NBC,” said Brian Rosenwald, who wrote a 2019 book about the history of political talk radio. “I think it really undermines their journalistic credibility.”

Yeah, sure. My friend Hugh has had a long association with NBC News, and is one of the most educated people on conservative policies and concerns. I’m looking forward to seeing Hugh drill down to those tonight with the five candidates that qualified:

Only five candidates qualified for this debate, down from seven who qualified for the previous debate in September. They are:

• Chris Christie, the former governor of New Jersey.

• Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida.

• Nikki Haley, the former governor of South Carolina and former United Nations ambassador.

• Vivek Ramaswamy, an entrepreneur.

• Tim Scott, a senator from South Carolina.

Under criteria set by the Republican National Committee, candidates needed to have at least 70,000 unique donors (up from 50,000 for the second debate) and to record at least 4 percent support (up from 3 percent) in either two national polls or one national poll in addition to two polls from early-voting states.

Hopefully the smaller group on stage will allow for fuller exploration of topics. And I certainly expect to see a closer focus on topics that matter to Republican primary voters with Hugh on stage. Worth watching: whether the candidates start taking Trump on directly, and how. (Christie’s the lone exception here, as he’s been targeting Trump all along.) The field is running out of room for gaining converts, as the primaries are now only a couple of months away. That matters more than debating each other, but we shall soon see how many of these five realize that.

I will be live-blogging the debate from home tonight, and our other writers will be following along on Twitter. I’ll post updates at the top in reverse-chronological order as soon as the debate begins, so be sure to stay with us all the way through to the spin-room coverage!