So I watched the Republican debate last night. I struggled \u2013 it\u2019s hard to listen when you don\u2019t agree with much (any?) of what\u2019s being said. I started to fall into \u201cfact-checker\u201d mode. But then I remembered my goal: not to determine \u201cright or wrong\u201d, but to act as scorekeeper. So here\u2019s my \u201cscore\u201d for the first debate of the 2024 Presidential election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The big winner is — Nikki Haley. She came across as the \u201cadult\u201d in the room, the most seasoned, the more reasoned, and the only candidate willing to say \u201cthis is what we can do\u201d, rather than just \u201cthis is what I want to do\u201d. It didn\u2019t hurt that she was the only woman on the stage. And, to use a boxing analogy, she punched well in the \u201cclinches\u201d, not giving an inch to Vivek Ramaswamy in arguing the importance of US involvement with Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The surprising runner-up is \u2013 Mike Pence. I always feel like Mike Pence is the \u201cHollywood\u201d version of a Vice President, the slow, soft voice resonant with emotion and his deep faith in Christianity scripted and polished. But, after professing his \u201cBorn Again\u201d status and his fealty to the Constitution and the \u201cTrump\/Pence\u201d accomplishments, Pence finally got in the \u201cfight\u201d in the second half. It didn\u2019t hurt that Chris Christie gave him a literal endorsement, praising Pence\u2019s actions on January 6th<\/sup>. Pence should have said \u201cThank You\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The big loser is \u2013 Tim Scott. He never got in the debate, never got beyond his \u201ccanned\u201d answers, memorized for his stump speech. I kept waiting for Scott to reach out and grab the audience, instead he never took the chance. To switch from boxing to car racing, Scott seemed stuck in neutral, no racing to the front, no trying to make the pass. He started in fourth or fifth, and ended in sixth or seventh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So what about the man with the most to say, Vivek Ramaswamy?\u00a0\u00a0He was definitely the target of the rest of the field.\u00a0\u00a0They must have all read the DeSantis PAC strategy paper (though DeSantis himself never threw a punch).\u00a0\u00a0Ramaswamy talked a lot, and the Fox moderators gave him far more time than he earned.\u00a0\u00a0In the first half of the debate Vivek was scoring points.\u00a0\u00a0But when the second half started, Ramaswamy was the only one on stage demanding a pardon for Trump, and his foreign policy views were far outside the box.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Like Bernie Sanders in the Democratic debates of old, Ramaswamy proved to be an able debater, and an ideologue far beyond even \u201cmainstream MAGA\u201d (is that even possible?). I\u2019m sure his supporters were thoroughly pleased with his performance. I\u2019m also sure that, to those first introduced to him in those two hours, he left most behind. Hard to call him a loser; as the song goes \u201c\u2026when you\u2019ve got nothing you\u2019ve got nothing to lose\u201d. Ramaswamy definitely got his thirty minutes of fame, but I don\u2019t see progress from there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum overcame his basketball injury to make it to the podium. His best line was his first: \u201ceverybody told me to \u2018break a leg\u2019 at the debate\u201d. After that, either the painkillers kicked in, or Burgum realized he wasn\u2019t in Fargo anymore. He hardly got a word in edgewise. He looked like what he was, a rookie in the big leagues, missing all of the pitches. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Asa Hutchinson, on the other end, embraced his \u201coutsider\u201d status. Hutchinson is no rookie, and he\u2019s seemed to enjoy his role as the \u201cbearer of bad news\u201d to the Republican Party. He took the jeers and boos when he talked about not supporting Trump, and he trumpeted his \u201csuccesses\u201d in education in Arkansas. Just one fact-check, Forbes <\/em>ranks Arkansas at 42nd<\/sup> in state public education. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Chris Christie struck me like those old guys in the balcony on Sesame Street.\u00a0\u00a0He didn\u2019t really seem much involved in the debate, in fact, he looked bored for the first hour or so.\u00a0\u00a0Christie dropped his \u201cpre-canned\u201d line on Vivek \u2013 \u201csounds like Chat-GPT\u201d – that must have sounded better in practice than it did on the stage. He finally got involved at the beginning of the second half when Trump was the subject.\u00a0\u00a0And while Christie tried to hold the rest of the field \u201cto the fire\u201d on law and order, it didn\u2019t go very far.\u00a0\u00a0The debate audience in the room definitely saw him as the enemy, and Christie didn\u2019t reach much beyond the room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So did I forget anyone?\u00a0\u00a0Oh yeah, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was there.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s clear that DeSantis took the \u201cdo no harm\u201d strategy to heart.\u00a0\u00a0He never got past his canned talking points, and he didn\u2019t really engage with any of the other candidates.\u00a0\u00a0And DeSantis is firmly squirming \u201con the fence\u201d when it comes to Trump.\u00a0\u00a0When asked about pardoning Trump, DeSantis immediately moved to January 20th<\/sup>\u00a02024 rather than discuss January 6th<\/sup>\u00a02021.\u00a0\u00a0DeSantis went into the debate in second behind Trump, I\u2019m sure he\u2019ll stay there.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n When you think about it, DeSantis is really taking the Biden strategy from 2020 to heart. Biden got himself through the debates without taking a solid hit, and DeSantis did the same this time. I guess it worked out for Biden. But the \u201celephant\u201d wasn\u2019t in the room last night, and if and when Trump shows up, DeSantis\u2019s lack of energy will become apparent \u2013 Trump, even fresh out of handcuffs, will be the four-hundred watt bulb in the room. DeSantis doesn\u2019t seem to go above forty.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Losers<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
No Shows<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Center Stage<\/h3>\n\n\n\n