I will say upfront that the first Republican presidential primary debate was not what I expected. The stage was set with eight candidates who met the qualifications set forth by the RNC. That was the only expectation that I went into the debate with that was met.
Thinking about the debate, as I have been doing since I live-blogged it in real time last night, some thoughts about each candidate have been on my mind. I thought I’d share those thoughts on each candidate and you can compare notes with your opinions as they are today.
Just once, I’d like to watch a political primary debate without a moderator asking an obnoxious “raise your hand if…” question. It is so stupid. They never answer honestly, they look from side to side to see if anyone is raising a hand before making their move, or not. The same happened last night. The first question was on climate change, of all things. Martha MacCallum asked that the candidates who think climate change is caused by human beings to raise their hands. Fortunately, Ron DeSantis jumped in and said they weren’t schoolchildren and should just debate the topic. The second time they were asked to raise their hand was over whether or not they would support Trump as the candidate. All raised their hand except Asa Hutchinson and Chris Christie, who half-way raised his hand and took it into a half-wave.
Chris Christie took that opportunity to launch into a law and order discussion. He said that leadership starts at the top and the president has to provide leadership on the subject. That eliminates Trump as a presidential candidate because of all his legal troubles now. Every time Christie voiced an opinion that dinged Trump, the audience loudly booed him. He stayed on message, though, and kept going. Like him or not, Chris Christie does well for himself in debates. He slammed Vivek for his robotic messaging on issues. He said Vivek was the ChatGPT guy and that’s a good point. Vivek does well in interviews and on the campaign trail because he can speak without notes or hesitation. He just goes. However, during the debate, he was exposed as not ready for prime time. Chris Christie and Nikki Haley pointed that out.
Christie had a good night. You don’t have to be a fan of his to agree with that opinion. He stayed on message and didn’t waiver at all. He’s an anti-Trump candidate and unabashedly so.
Let’s talk about Ron DeSantis. I thought that the others would all be ready to take him out. No one did. As it turns out, DeSantis was able to remain above the fray when the yelling started, which it did frequently, and looked like the mature guy. He was calm, didn’t get rattled, and he had a good record to remind voters about. He did that throughout the night. Most importantly, he said that if Republicans dwell on the 2020 election or on January 6, 2021, Joe Biden will be re-elected. He’s right, whether Trump supporters want to hear that or not. Voters look forward, not backward. They want to know how their lives will be better going forward.
DeSantis came off as experienced and capable of getting things done because that is his record. He’s the only veteran running for president and he was able to work that fact in. He is border-hawkish enough to sound tough on securing the southern border, even if it includes using the military to do it. He’s also in favor of using Special Ops across the border to take out the cartels.
DeSantis was able to shine in all the right places and benefit from the others fighting among themselves. I think he won the debate because he did it his way. He is policy-focused, and not interested in lobbing personal attacks to score points. He may be a policy wonk without a lot of charisma but maybe that is what voters are looking for. It is nowhere near time to count him out as a disappointment who can’t close the gap with Trump. I think he can and we’ll know soon enough if the polls start moving in his favor.
Vivek is not ready for prime time. Sorry. Not sorry. He’s smart, well-spoken, and loves the attention. However, he’s Trump’s little brother who won’t say anything against the frontrunner, which is odd for someone running against him. Trump World loves Vivek. Vivek loves Trump. I’ve said it before. There is something odd here and it isn’t to Vivek’s benefit. I’m concerned about Vivek’s foreign policy chops, of which he has none, and when he voices an opinion I find myself flinching. He sounds okay with letting China swallow up Taiwan, and Russia conquering Ukraine, and he isn’t full-throated in his support of Israel. None of that sits well with me. The world is a dangerous place and the alliance developing between China and Russia should alarm everyone paying attention. Vivek is out of his league. His schtick that we need an American Revolution 2024 is getting old. Nikki Haley took him apart on foreign policy. She said he has no experience and it shows. She’s right. And, Vivek was particularly lame in some of his childish insults against the others – like when he said he was the only one on stage who wasn’t “bought and paid for.”
Nikki Haley had a mixed night. At times I thought she was doing well, especially on the foreign policy topic. That’s her wheelhouse. However, she should have focused more on domestic issues since she has the experience of a successful governor. She did well on the topic of abortion. Some of the others – like Mike Pence – refuse to accept the reality that there are not 60 votes in the Senate to pass a federal abortion ban. She spoke about working to find common ground, which is a little naive, but she’s a believer that it can be done. She had a couple of girl power moments, using a quote from Margaret Thatcher and her strong opposition to men in women’s sports. Generally speaking, her performance wasn’t as strong as I expected, which was disappointing.
Tim Scott did not shine and that’s too bad. He has a lot to offer as a happy warrior-style candidate. He was out-shouted and seemed to fade into the background too often. He did get to tout his work on bills on law and order and told his compelling personal story. He needs to be more aggressive, and less a nice guy on stage. I’m not sure he can do that because it doesn’t seem to be his nature.
Asa Hutchinson – Why? Why is he there? Why is he running? He brought absolutely nothing to the debate, except his anti-Trump rhetoric. He probably won’t last much longer. His time is long past.
Doug Burgum is a terrific Republican candidate that no one has ever heard of. That’s a shame. He has an excellent conservative record in North Dakota. He has a passion for small towns and ordinary Americans. He hangs back, though, and is at the end of the stage which means he was mostly forgotten. When he speaks, it is usually solid conservatism. He has the personal wealth to stay in as long as he meets the requirements of the debates but I’m not seeing him catching fire with voters. Again, that’s a shame.
I’ve saved Mike Pence for last. Frankly, I’m not sure what to make of his debate performance. He’s a career politician and I warned y’all that he knows about campaigns. Don’t count him out. He may be mild-mannered and soft-spoken under normal circumstances but last night a different Mike Pence was on that stage. Chris Christie, to his credit, spoke up for Pence and his actions on January 6, 2021. Pence spoke about Trump asking him to put Trump above the Constitution and that kind of person can’t be president. He went hard against Vivek, saying, “Now is not the time for on-the-job training.” He slammed Vivek for saying we need a rebirth in America. Pence believes America is still the shining city on the hill as Reagan said. He spoke up for a national abortion ban, tweaking Nikki Haley on the subject. And, he slammed Vivek for his lack of support for more financial support to Ukraine. He and Nikki Haley spoke out that the United States can help protect Ukraine and protect its borders, too. DeSantis spoke up and said that is true but we aren’t securing the southern border with this president.
An often angry Mike Pence showed up. Maybe it’s frustration that he hasn’t risen much in the polls since he entered the race. He was much more vocal and aggressive than we normally see.
Interestingly, it was an hour into the debate before Trump was brought into it. He was only briefly mentioned and it was good that he wasn’t on stage with them, as it turned out. It allowed the others to do their thing and get their moments of attention.
We have a strong bench of Republican candidates. Any of them would be better than Joe Biden or Kamala Harris. None are extreme, as the Democrats are trying to paint them. All but Vivek have records to run on and varied experience in elected office. Republicans should be poised to win the 2024 presidential election in a landslide, given how unpopular Biden is and how voters feel about their lives under his policies. We have to choose wisely, though, or it will be 2022 all over again – high expectations and a red wave that never came, except in Florida and a handful of districts in New York. I think DeSantis won the debate, and his closing statement was the best of all of them. The barrage of attacks didn’t come at him, as predicted. He came off well.
Here's Ron DeSantis' full closing statement 👇 pic.twitter.com/dDoYzMZP8H
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) August 24, 2023
Do debates matter anymore? Is Trump so far ahead that he has the nomination wrapped up? It’s debate season now and we’ll know more soon.
