
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">In the second Republican primary election debate, each of the seven contenders needed to rise above the fray. ; Unfortunately, the fray won. ; One or the other of them may have done marginally better than their opponents. ; The polls will tell us that. ;</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Whatever improvements in their polling numbers, none are likely to be more than marginal. ; It may be more of taking market share from each other rather than bringing down President Trump’s commanding lead.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">We may be seeing a repeat of 2016 when a divided field of Republican candidates divided the majority of GOP voters who did not want Trump as their candidate – giving him a big enough plurality to win the Republican nomination. ; Now in 2023, none of the anti-Trump candidates took a lead as the primary challenger. ; That lead seemed to favor one or another at different times – which I described as a game of political Whack-a-Mole in 2016. ; It is déjà vu all over again.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The first question is always “who won?” ; And that is only judged against their competitors on the stage and in terms of who likely increased voter support.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The candidate who gets the award for most improved performance, in ; my judgment, was the candidate I wrote off after the last debate – Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. ; He proved to have a pulse and did a credible job of maintaining his current second place position in the past polls.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The second winner, if you will, was former South Carolina Governor and UN Ambassador Nikki Haley. ; She is the only Republican who beats Biden in a head-to-head contest beyond the margin of error. ; She has every right to claim to be the GOP’s most electable candidate. ; The second debate was her opportunity to become the major challenger to Trump. ; While she had a relatively good night, she did not break out of the pack.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">In my view, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, former and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie left the room with whatever they had coming in. ; That may be partially because neither of these two are expected to make it across the finish line. ;</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">I expected to award Ramaswamy with the Rudeness Award for interrupting and yelling over others. ; Actually, that award was shared by North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum and Scott.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">I would put businessman Vivek Ramaswamy in that category, but I’m just not sure. ; I would be surprised if voters give him a boost, but not shocked. ; He took a more conciliatory approach this time – abandoning his aggressive and rude confrontational demeaner he had in the first debate … mostly. ; That role was taken over by Scott, who got into bickering matches with Ramaswamy and Haley – taking shots at Christie and Pence.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">An intra-Indian feud again erupted between Ramaswamy and Haley. ; At one point she said that Ramaswamy’s statements made her dumber. ; That may be the worst throw-away line in presidential races since Michigan Governor George Romney said he was brainwashed back in 1968. ; ; ;</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Bracketing the stage at the far end were Burgum on the left and former Vice President Mike Pence notably on the right. ; That seemed appropriate since I would not be surprised to see them both fall off the stage before the next debate.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Pence has the most pathetic performance. ; I love the guy, but he has no stage presence … no charisma … and it was on full display again. ; When a former Vice President is at the bottom of the polling, you know he is beyond resuscitation.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Despite a few attacks on Trump – especially from Christie – it does not appear that anyone has cut into his numbers. ; He was the pre-emptive leader before the debate and remains the pre-emptive leader after the debate. ; In that context, Trump was a winner that night.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">In general …</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The field of candidates failed to provide enough of a vision of what specifically they would do as President. ; It was more platitudes than policy. ; And what they did promise was music to anyone who understands federalism and grassroots democracy. ; However, it was too big of an agenda to seem credible – such things as abolishing the Department of Education.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">In terms of key issues, they all were correct on immigration. ; But that is easy. ; They did okay on crime. ; Abortion is tougher since there is no overall anti-abortion sentiment among the populace – although the Republicans do represent popular opinion on the issue of major limits. ;</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The Ukraine is a tough one for a GOP voter like me. ; I think it is essential to America’s future that Putin be totally defeated – and that we should give Ukraine everything they need to win on their terms. ; It is the issues that had me switch my “vote” from DeSantis to Haley for the moment. ; And the issue that had me write off Ramaswamy after the last debate.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Once again FOX News seemed incapable of organizing and conducting a fact-based presidential debate. ; The rules – which were never invoked effectively – allowed for a verbal cluster (censored). ; At times, three and four candidates were yelling over each other, making it impossible to know what they were saying.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">It seemed at times that the candidates were spending too much time attacking each other rather than going after the frontrunner or their potential Democrat opponent in the General Election.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">I have never liked it when questioners give long introductions to their questions. ; I prefer asking basic questions and allowing the candidates to answer. ; Duh! ; Even worse when the questioner asks questions that are designed to put the candidate in a bad light. ; The panelists are not there to debate but to moderate.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">As a close, FOX went for entertainment over substance. ; They provided paper and marker and asked each to write down who they would “kick off the island.” ; DeSantis instantly refused. ; There was no way he would engage in such silliness. ; The others followed suit. ; When Christie was asked who he had written down, he said he would kick Trump off the island. ; Cute, but Trump was not on the FOX island.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Based on the debate, I think the only two worth following are DeSantis and Haley. ; Can either of them zoom into a credible second place in the coming months?  ;Personally, I wish all the others would drop out at this stage so we can get an idea at how large an anti-Trump vote might be. ; If it ever comes down to a one-on-one with Trump in the primaries, I think Trump loses. ; But that has to happen soon or it will not happen at all.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">In any case, the GOP contenders are going to have to improve their messaging if they want to go up against Trump. So far they are not doing a good job.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">So, there ‘tis.</p>

The “fray” wins in GOP debate
