A Surprising Winner at the GOP Debate Showdown

The top eight GOP candidates – excluding former President Donald Trump – took to the stage in Milwaukee, WI, yesterday evening (August 23) to make the case for their respective presidencies. While the debate has been saucily billed by the media as a “vice-presidential job interview,” the contenders took their role seriously and tried to come out on top with carefully prepared swipes and policy soundbites. The ultimate question must be who won and who lost, but amid the chatter, there was enough entertainment to carry the event despite a rather lackluster format.

The overall Fox News debate production left a lot to be desired. Rather than opting for a focus on policy platforms, the event began with video clips and even a musical spot more reminiscent of a “Fox and Friends” episode than the rigorous battle arena that GOP voters were hoping to witness. Undaunted, the presidential hopefuls tried – and, in a few cases – succeeded in getting their messages across.

Losing Issues

One of the most notable losers of the night was the topics discussed. Only tangentially touching on issues that are of importance to conservative voters, the overall direction could have been swapped out with those of CNN or MSNBC. From dealing with gun violence to January 6, the posing of the questions was not throwing out red meat for the audience, but a softly scolding and handwringing plea for more government control. Case in point: The very first video question was from a young gentleman lamenting the fear younger people were experiencing due to climate change.

Recent polling via Premise listed just 1% of Republican voters who considered climate change as the most important topic.

Former Governor Nikki Haley opted for the role of combatant, striking hard at Vivek Ramaswamy over his lack of foreign policy experience. However, when answering questions, she chose pat soundbites direct from the pages of Salon. On the abortion question, she stated that “unelected justices” shouldn’t be in charge of such decisions and made a strawman argument that the country shouldn’t be looking to the “death penalty” for those who have had an abortion.

New Jersey’s ex-governor, Chris Christie, came to the debate with one goal in mind: Attack Donald Trump. Sadly for him, Trump wasn’t there – a situation Christie should have taken into consideration. He was left floundering for an opponent and came across as petulant and defensive. Fortunately for him, when the audience began to boo his statements on Donald Trump, moderator Bret Baier was there to gently castigate the crowd on his behalf.

Two candidates who failed to make waves during the debate were North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum – who looked happy just to be invited – and former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson. Neither man managed to land a blow on the top-tier contenders or to differentiate themselves from the panel.

Winning Moments

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis fell just short of the performance he needed to put him back in second place after his numerous campaign issues. Two areas he did shine in, however, were on the questions of rampant criminality and illegal immigration. He pinpointed that the heart of the issue was George Soros’ spending on far-left radical district attorneys who refuse to punish crime and made it clear that he is the only governor in the country who has actively removed DAs for not doing their jobs. On illegal immigration, he took a hard-line stance reminiscent of Trump.

Businessman Vivek Ramaswamy came out of his corner swinging, saying he aims to declare “war on the federal administrative state.” He remained collected throughout – even against Christie’s less-than pointed attacks – and seemed to understand the crowd better than any of his opponents. “Do you want incremental reform or do you want revolution?” he asked, capturing the zeitgeist of an audience who has heard it all before.

The Anti-Trump Crowd Off to a Dishonest Start

The pledges that were sought by the RNC for entry to the debate stage, specifically to back the ultimate nominee, may be ringing somewhat hollow after the responses of certain participants. Chris Christie in particular, with his attempted savages of the one candidate who wasn’t even there, made plain that he would not honor his promise to support Donald Trump should he win the GOP primaries. Based on his negative statements last night, it would take some kind of hypocrite to endorse a person with whom he so vehemently disagreed. But then, his attacks were no surprise, and neither is the fact that he will break his pledge and not support Trump.

In terms of credibility, Christie knowingly making a promise he has said he won’t keep to the organization he hopes to lead is a bad look. A number of pundits recognized that Trump was at least honest in his refusal to partake, saying he couldn’t because there were candidates he would never consider backing.

A Ratings Battle

Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s interview with Donald Trump – streamed on X (nee Twitter) – ran concurrently with the debate. Based on initial numbers, it was by far the more watched production. Posting more than 130 million views (although this may not be for the whole show) on the platform, it seems apparent that the nation’s interest in Trump as a presidential contender is far from sated.

Polling demonstrates that Republican voters favor the former president for the nomination over any other candidate, with leads of over 50 points in some surveys. And while the left-leaning media spins a 60% poll win as a 40% support deficit, the reality is that as the field whittles down, more will gravitate towards the former president.

The two most anti-Trump candidates on the stage, former Governors Asa Hutchinson and Chris Christie, are polling a combined average of just 3.8%. Although it is still early in the primary race, it seems this figure is a ceiling rather than a floor.

The Scoreboard

Ultimately, the performers mostly came across as inauthentic, avoiding questions in favor of prepared soundbites and well-rehearsed “off-the-cuff zingers.” The last official GOP primary was won by the contender who was unapologetically different and unafraid to utter lines that would have the progressive left clutching their proverbial pearls. So if past is truly prologue and lessons can, indeed, be learned from history, only one candidate demonstrated the Trump-like willingness to walk into the fire: Vivek Ramaswamy.

The biggest loser of the night, however, was not any one candidate, but rather the network that hosted the debate.