Kyle KondikCommunications director of the Center for Political Research at the University of Virginia, points out that Donald Trump’s absence from the debate has diminished its importance and significance, since he remains the overwhelming favorite to win the party’s nomination:
“It was one of the least significant and least notable primary debates that I can remember. Largely because they don’t involve the person who is the frontrunner. I mean Donald Trump. We can certainly analyze the interactions between these candidates, but they all depend on something beyond his control: they need Donald Trump to fall in the polls in order to inherit a significant portion of his electorate. And there are still no signs that Trump intends to do so. We are approaching the primaries, which begin in Iowa in mid-January. Then there will be New Hampshire, and so on. Someone really needs to start winning over some of Trump’s electorate to his side. But this is difficult to do when Trump himself is not in the debate. Because the debate can sometimes affect the numbers. And I think that’s why Trump doesn’t participate in them, because he knows that basically nothing good will come of his participation.”
Gregorio Kogerpolitical science professor at the University of Miami, maintains that Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis remain the main alternatives to Trump:
“The main question in this debate was who would become the main alternative to Donald Trump. So far it has been Nikki Haley and Ron Desantis. And I would say that after the debate they stayed roughly in the same place. Vivek Ramaswamy entered the debate in an attempt to attract attention and seems to have succeeded, but in a negative way. He attacked other candidates, addressing personal issues that, in my opinion, did not benefit him. So I expect him to lose ground and fade away. In previous debates he was eloquent and interesting. And now he seems bitter. The other two candidates, Chris Christie and South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, were not at all good yesterday. “So I still expect Nikki Haley and Ron Desantis to remain former President Trump’s top two competitors.”
Juan Fortiersenior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, highlights Nikki Haley as a strong candidate who handled the debate well and strengthened her position:
“I think Nikki Haley was a very strong candidate last night and scored some political points. Overall, she stands out among other contenders, but the real question is how popular she is among potential Trump voters. She is very popular among Republicans who wouldn’t vote for Donald Trump, but there aren’t many. Ron Desantis also had a good performance, but it wasn’t as noticeable. Both Donald Trump and all the participants in the debate support the ban on abortion, but at the same time admit that it is necessary to find a compromise solution. Nikki Haley gave a good answer to this question, saying that she is pro-life, but that Republicans need to find common ground that they can agree on in different states. But I don’t think Republicans as a whole have a good answer to that question. On aid to Israel, I think Republicans support it in general, but on the Ukraine issue they are much more divided. In yesterday’s debate, Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis and Tim Scott once again confirmed that they support aid to Ukraine, and the one who expressed doubts about it was Vivek Ramaswami.
