The first Republican debate was more interesting than I expected, and I think it benefited from Trump’s absence. The abortion discussions are way more textured in a post-Roe world, as you see pro-life fundamentalism vs. “art of the possible” pragmatism vs. states’ rights principles at work, and those are all credible positions from a right-wing point of view, but they sure as hell don’t mix. I also thought it was interesting that everyone on the stage agreed that Pence did the right thing on Jan 6, though DeSantis and Ramaswamy really didn’t want to emphasize that point.
Vivek Ramaswamy is clearly running to be Trump’s VP choice for 2024, and I think he may have locked that up tonight. He delivers his lines with punchy conciseness and he’s willing to say anything and everything Trump would want him to say. His positions are mostly batshit crazy, but that’s where the Trump folks are these days.
Asa Hutchinson is boring, out of step with Trumpism, and probably toast after this debate.
Doug Burgum seems relatively reasonable, but slightly boring and maybe a bit out of his depth. I don’t know if he’ll get any traction from this, but I hope he sticks around a bit longer.
Nikki Haley continues to underwhelm me every time I hear her speak, though I give her credit for admitting that a national abortion ban could never get through the Senate. I don’t see her moving the needle with this performance.
Tim Scott seems nice enough, but I don’t think he made much of an impression tonight, and of course he has some positions that would be poison in a general election.
Chris Christie acquitted himself pretty well, despite the booing. His best moment was probably the argument that no Republican has beaten an incumbent Democratic president since 1980, and the person who did that was a straight-shooting governor from a blue state. And that Christie himself had unseated an incumbent Democratic governor in a blue state. His attacks on Ramaswamy felt a litte desperate at times, but otherwise I think people who are tired of Trump’s behavior may take another look at Christie.
Mike Pence was in a really weird position, trying to take credit for Trump’s red meat policies while selectively throwing him under the bus, but not trashing him too much. He also looked a little desperate going after Ramaswamy. I don’t see a realistic path to the nomination for him unless Trump has a stroke or gets a 14th amendment disqualification or something, but I think he did a little better than I expected.
Ron DeSantis must’ve been taken off guard by the lack of attention he got from the rest of the field — everyone seemed to want to take swings at Ramaswamy instead. I think DeSantis’s performance was actually pretty solid, aside from dodging some questions entirely, and failing to dodge the question about whether Pence did the right thing on Jan 6. I chuckled at his refusal to participate in the first round of “raise your hand” questioning, instead just alpha dogging it and starting to answer the question at length. The guy’s a total dick and I disagree with him on most policy matters, but I see why he’s garnered some appeal with the base. Still, it feels like his star is fading and Ramaswamy’s is rising.
It’ll be interesting to see who makes the next debate, and whether Trump changes his mind about attending the next one.
