I’m writing this as the debate is still ongoing and here are four takeaways:
— Vivek Ramaswamy isn’t a serious contender, if he ever was, after tonight. He comes off like a more clownish Michael Anthony Hall in “Sixteen Candles.” He has unintentionally mastered the art of making the people he criticizes seem sympathetic. He wants to send troops everywhere until he doesn’t, everyone else is corrupt but don’t dare mention his well-documented CCP investments. He employs Trump-wannabe personal attacks on other candidates but executes them poorly. He kept repeating that Haley is corrupt in front of an audience that should have made for an easy win with such a slogan, but never took the opportunity to really rhetorically bury her with her positions on shared bathrooms, crony capitalism, and more. He acted like a guy instructed to ding her but not on the more serious issues. He struggled to meet the polling requirements to qualify for this debate, I’ll be shocked if he makes the next.
— Nikki Haley styles herself as a one-time tea party candidate, but as one of the founders of the tea party 2.0, the Hallway now is very different from the Haley then. She accused DeSantis of going soft on the bathroom bill while he responded “You killed it, I signed it.” It’s true: here is flashback video of her criticizing the type of bill she claimed she supported tonight. She missed a prime opportunity to hit Ramaswamy on his CCP business ventures and seemed at times overwhelmed by the onslaught coming from the other candidates on the stage.
QUESTION: What wins in a vaccine database? Haley’s social media database or Ramaswamy’s vaccine database?
— Chris Christie’s best moment came when he ended and defended Haley from another of Vivek’s goofy personal attacks. The camera caught a quick second-long side shot where Haley is seen quickly bowing her had and mouthing “thank you” as Christie tips his head in acknowledgement. He looked tired. Everyone’s patience for his Eeyore-ish Trump vendetta has grown thin. He, too, struggled to qualify for tonight’s debate and he won’t make the next.
— Ron DeSantis won the debate because he can lean on his record and does. He smiled, he didn’t get flustered, he defended his points without making distracting, personal attacks, he didn’t substitute cheap pettiness for wit. I’ve said before that he has a Calvin Coolidge aesthetic — one of the most under-appreciated presidents and a personal favorite. “Silent Cal” spoke when he had to and preferred to study a situation before acting. He loathed hot takes and knee-jerk reactions. When asked to name their favorite president, DeSantis stood out by picking Coolidge. This is the second debate in two weeks that DeSantis has won.
I’ll break down the policy positions that stood out the most on tomorrow’s broadcast.
Your comparison of DeSantis and Coolidge is interesting. P.S. I hope I have a shot at getting your picture of Kane. lol