WASHINGTON — Well, former President Donald Trump made the right — for him, not for voters or our democracy — choice to stiff the first GOP debate on Wednesday, with the front-runner absent on the eve of his going to Atlanta to surrender on charges of trying to overthrow the 2020 election.
Nikki Haley was the big winner, really helping herself with her tough, practical approach and willingness to deal pragmatically with otherwise intractable issues.
The biggest drama of the night was when the eight rivals on the Milwaukee stage — who all signed pledges to support the eventual GOP presidential nominee — were asked for a show of hands of who would back Trump if he were convicted “in a court of law.”
GOP presidential candidates Chris Christie, Mike Pence, Ron DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy confer during a break in Wednesday’s debate. DeSantis and Ramaswamy trail former President Donald Trump in the polls, but DeSantis has seen his numbers fall and Ramaswamy has picked up support.
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Other takeaways from the debate, where former Trump White House adviser Kellyanne Conway — who managed the last chapter of his 2016 campaign — said wryly on Fox just before the debate that all the candidates are under pressure and none are “under oath.”
On supporting Trump. Or not.
Only two made it clear that they would not support Trump if convicted. This was a show-of-hands question. Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who just kept his hands to his side, and Trump nemesis Chris Christie, the ex-New Jersey governor, who at first was not clear what he was doing with his hand.
Christie, the Republican 2024 contender who is the most outspoken about Trump not being fit to serve, said “someone” — himself, it seemed — has “got to stop normalizing this conduct. Whether or not you believe that the criminal charges are right or wrong, the conduct is beneath the office of president of the United States.” Hearing the boos from the audience, Christie said, “Booing is allowed, but it does not change the truth.”
Bottom line: This debate did not yield a strong, unified, sustained attack on Trump — whether on policy, election denialism or the four indictments he is facing.
No DeSantis reset
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis gained no obvious advantage from this debate. He was evasive, extreme and sometimes just came across as mean. He only grudgingly agreed that on Jan. 6, 2021, rival Mike Pence did his duty as vice president by not voting to overturn the election.
Ramaswamy tried to hijack debate
Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who has been rising in the polls, coming in after DeSantis (both far, far behind Trump), interrupted again and again. That bought him time, but he came off nasty. He said Trump was the best president “of the 21st century” — so what’s the reason, then, that Ramaswamy is in this race? Still, I can see — if you put all his hand waving aside — how some of his anti-establishment, isolationist message has an appeal to the MAGA base.
Big standout night: Nikki Haley
Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor and Trump’s United Nations ambassador, did a terrific job in showing her grit and substance to folks who may not have seen her before.
She is the only woman in the race.
She did especially well on the abortion question. Haley is strongly anti-abortion but said it was time to stop “demonizing” the procedure and trying to stop access to contraception and to — gasp! —find some “consensus.” Don’t put all this on women, she said.
Christie’s effective prosecution of Trump
Christie makes a strong case. But the audience was not buying it. Though he may have created a series of viral moments that may split the screen Thursday when Trump surrenders and is booked in Atlanta.
On your Hunter Biden bet
If you made a bet about how long it would take for Hunter Biden’s name to come up and who would be the first to wield it ... the answer is DeSantis, in the first minute of his first answer.
Burgum’s bonanza
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum was little known before he launched his presidential bid and still is. But he reaped a bonanza of free media coverage Wednesday over his torn Achilles tendon, injured playing a Tuesday night pickup basketball game with his staffers in Milwaukee.
Indeed, Wednesday might have been Burgum’s best day ever when it comes to breaking out in the news. Not for anything he said in the debate, but you take your breaks — or tendon tears — when you get them. He didn’t even get a chance to speak until 20 minutes into the debate
By the way, the Burgum campaign is stocked with veteran Illinois GOP political operatives, who were in the foxhole together in the Bruce Rauner camp: Mike Zolnierowicz, Lance Trover, Chris Schrimpf and Mike Schrimpf.
