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“Donald Trump's Republican rivals clashed at a chaotic presidential debate on Wednesday, leveling attacks at the absent former president, Democratic President Joe Biden and one another over issues from China to immigration to the economy… Trump, who led his nearest rival for the nomination by 37 percentage points in the most recent Reuters/Ipsos poll, skipped the debate, as he did the first one in Wisconsin last month.” Reuters
The right argues that the candidates need to challenge Trump if they want to win, and praises the performances of Christie and Haley.
“All of [the candidates] court irrelevance if they can’t cut into Mr. Trump’s commanding lead. And no one is going to become a credible alternative fighting about curtains at the United Nations. Sooner or later the candidates have to persuade voters that they would be better as the Republican nominee than Mr. Trump, with a better chance of winning and then governing for four years more effectively than the chaotic former President…
“No doubt the candidates are wary of offending MAGA voters. But it’s possible to challenge Mr. Trump’s record without sounding like the left-wing scolds at CNN or MSNBC. One obvious way is to describe his losing election record since 2016. Another is to draw policy distinctions. Taking on Mr. Trump might also be the best way to stand out from the crowd and demonstrate the fighting spirit that GOP voters say they want in a nominee.”
Editorial Board, Wall Street Journal
“It wasn’t a bad debate for any of the candidates on that stage. Ramaswamy pivoted from the churlish pose he struck in the first debate… Haley displayed a real depth of knowledge on policy… Ron DeSantis did himself a lot of favors by reminding voters of his successes as Florida’s governor…
“But it was Christie who turned in the most compelling performance. And for Donald Trump’s Republican skeptics, that’s just terrible. No one in this field is as disliked by GOP voters as Chris Christie. That deficit is so deep it’s a hurdle Christie is unlikely to overcome. So, a muddled result favoring the candidate least likely to consolidate the Trump-skeptical vote only prolongs the winnowing process and makes Trump’s nomination more likely.”
Noah Rothman, National Review
“Haley acted like a professional pol who wants to be a front-runner, who wants to win, and is executing a plan to get there. The Haley surge is real in the sense that — of the non-Trumps — she’s the only one going in the right (statistically significant) direction. She has risen to second place in New Hampshire according to some polls. She’s rising a bit in Iowa…
“Whether this debate will have any campaign-changing effect or not can be distilled down to a single Rorschach-test question: Does America like aggressive, feisty, playing-to-win Nikki Haley? That’s an open question, and we’ll find out over the next week or so if tonight’s debate will propel Haley forward or if we have we seen the last of the Haley boomlet.”
Mark Antonio Wright, National Review
The left argues that the debate is unlikely to impact the race and criticizes the lack of focus on women’s issues.
The left argues that the debate is unlikely to impact the race and criticizes the lack of focus on women’s issues.
“This was another debate where the guy leading by 40 points was not onstage and took only the slightest of blows from those who were onstage… It is difficult for me to imagine how this debate will make any impact on the race. The central characteristic of the contest is still that Trump has a massive lead. A debate with extremely limited discussion of Trump was a useless waste of time. In a way, everyone onstage was a loser for failing to shake up that underlying dynamic…
“There was a time, earlier this year, when the polling between Trump and DeSantis wasn’t totally lopsided, and it seemed at least possible that Trump’s lead could be dislodged. That time has long passed. And any campaign event that fails to shake up that status quo is effectively one that aids Trump’s path to the nomination.”
Andrew Prokop, Vox
“Startlingly few questions were about the issues that animate the lives of so many American families, and women’s lives especially: childcare, healthcare, abortion. While Republican lawmakers criminalize abortion in conservative states, and while even red state voters vote for abortion rights when given the chance, the Republican hopefuls were wishy-washy on the issue – not wanting to be accountable for their party’s own extremism, but also refusing to align themselves with America’s pro-choice majority.…
“Chris Christie turned a question about abortion rights into talking about defunding Planned Parenthood and wanting to fund drug treatment. Ron DeSantis simply refused to accept that pro-choice voters cost Republicans some midterm wins. There was only a single question about childcare, and it went largely unanswered.”
Jill Filipovic, The Guardian
“[Haley] gave one of the most substantive answers on health care. On that question and others, she looked less like she was pandering and punting on questions than the other candidates did. And by the end, her performance had something all candidates strive for: the promise of a viral moment. She told Ramaswamy, after a tough question about his posture on TikTok, that, ‘Honestly, every time I hear you, I feel a little bit dumber for what you say.’…
“Haley gained the most from the first debate by being a studied candidate who demonstrated broad appeal — by not alienating Trump-backing voters. She probably maintained that advantage and inched closer to possibly one day replacing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as the leading, actually somewhat viable, Trump alternative.”
Aaron Blake, Washington Post
