The GOP Debate Post Mortem

Now that we've all had more than a few hours to digest what happened in Milwaukee last night, it's time to dive into the substance of the debate and dissect what we learnt and if any tangible, new information was presented to sway voters going into the Iowa caucuses. 

I continue to believe in the importance of a healthy debate as a bedrock of democracy. If the will of the majority must be enforced on all, the least we can ask is that the people be well educated on the character, ideologies, policy proposals and execution plans of the candidate who present themselves for office. 

So, how well did the candidates plead their cases last night? 

1. Doug Burgum.

The governor got in the race very late and leading up to the debate, hasn't made much of a splash. Let's be honest, establishment candidates who believe in old school conservative politics and inspired by Ronald Reagan are a dying breed in today's Republican party. They have no home, no tangible base of voters and seriously need to go back to the drawing board. That wing of the party, in my opinion, suffered a deadly blow in the tea party revolution of 2010 and had not recovered since. It is only a matter of when, not if they will die out and many of their banner men will either join the Trump wing of the party or become trolls on the internet like the Lincoln project. 

Let's be honest, the governor of North Dakota may have great credentials and if you talk to him one-on-one, may actually have some great ideas but he was lost on the debate stage and could not land any blow on the candidates on or off the stage. 

Maybe it has something to do with His oratory prowess but, I'll be surprised if governor Burgum makes it to Iowa.

Rating - 0/10.

2. Governor Asa Hutchinson

Like Burgum, Governor Hutchinson was easily forgettable on the stage last night. I do not like having loud, cheering/booing audiences at debate venues but, they are a great indicator of where the voters are and here's a simple test: if a candidate cannot get cheers or even boos off ideas of their own, their campaign is not gojng anywhere. 

The only memorable impression governor Hutchinson made on the audience last night was raising his hand to support a hypothetically convicted felon for president. So much for the party of law and order who have done everything within their power and beyond ro strip felons of their voting rights, even AFTER they have served their terms.

Governor Hutchinson was not going anywhere near the Republican ticket and yesterday was the final nail in the coffin.

He failed to impress, has no original ideas and is not in the same zip code as the average Republican voter of 2023.

Rating - 0/10.

3. Senator Tim Scott.

Senator Scott is a long shot candidate, for sure and I believe everyone on His campaign knows it, personally, I would have advised him against joining the race at this time but, He has a message and He's changing a few minds. He is smart, articulate and often talks like a preacher of Hope, faith and love. His message was not expected to resonate with Republican voters and was mocked by some Democrats but, He is making a few, gentle ripples and that is what aspiring for office is about - selling your ideas to people and changing minds. 

I do not expect senator Scott to win the election and I certainly don't think he won the debate last night but, he got a few half chances and made the best of it.

Rating - 3/10.

4. Chris Christie.

No one built anticipation leading up to this debate like Governor Christie and his campaign. Before he even got in the race, there was a viral video of him saying someone needed to do to Trump what "I did to Marco (Rubio)", so, everyone was expecting a Christie - Trump mouth off. Chris Christie was going to channel his inner prosecutor and oratory power and embarrass Donald Trump and finally put him in his place but, Trump was no show. Maybe Donald really is playing chess while others are playing checkers.

As the days to the debate grew shorter and it became obvious Donald Trump was not going to be in attendance, despite all of Christie's hail Mary efforts to goad his old friend, many observers began to wonder who Chris Christie will unleash his wrath on. Will it be Pence? Governor DeSantis? Debate day came around and it was Vivek Ramaswamy, what a let down. 

The zingers did not stick or maybe Christie just sheath his sword knowing his ideal target was not around. Why attack a man who can't defend himself? Plus, looking around the stage, you can sense everyone else would pounce on Governor Christie in defense of Trump. Christie lives to fight another day.

Chris Christie, however, raised his hand or did he? When asked if the candidates would still support Trump as the nominee even if convicted by the courts. So, what was all that bravado about?

Rating - 4/10.

5. Vice President Mike Pence.

Vice President Mike Pence has a lot of strong suits but debate is not one of them. A devoted conservative, family man, Christian and the only establishment candidate who was cool with the MAGA base for a nano second.

Mr. Pence, had a strong showing, in the debate, no doubt and he brought his A-game to Milwaukee. He dropped the rehearsed lines appropriately and was able to gently navigate the Trump question without making new enemies, in my opinion. However, when challenged, especially by Vivek Ramaswamy, the former vice president could not handle it. He was visibly upset and wanted to send the young upcomer to His room before he remembered Vivek is not one of his children.

Mike Pence had a few good moments, in my opinion, whether you agree with him or not is another question. He answered well, when challenged on his position on the Ukraine war, warning of the dangers of letting Putin win, he tried to explain what America's position should be and thankfully did not say "I don't care" about American cities, this time.

Did Mike Pence do anything to win over voters from His sparring partners? I doubt. The main challenger who they all should be looking to peel support away from has become the boogy man who must not be criticized and since they all promised to support him, even if convicted, I wonder what the strategy is, going forward.

For someone who doesn't have the preacher persona of His fellow evangelical Christian conservatives, however, Pence held his own considerably well.

Rating - 5/10.

6. Ambassador Nikki Haley.

For few minutes during the debate, the former Trump appointee who vowed not to run against his old boss was the star of the show. Nikki Haley brought everything that use to make a conservative political debate worth the while - foreign policy chops, family, pulling yourself by the bootstraps story, name it. The former governor who is also a military spouse with a husband currently deployed abroad Held her own nicely. Nikki Haley is really a big girl.

Haley, in my opinion, is trying to be a new wine in an old wine skin. Daughter of immigrants with a great American story who's trying to push her party into the future but not too much so as not to sound "Woke". A very fine line to thread but she seem to be doing it well enough, not enough to win over any Trump supporter but, maybe just enough to land another at the United Nations or maybe National security adviser this time.

I've said it before and I'll say it again - there's not a lot of things in this world more annoying than watching an intelligent person sacrifice their integrity for Donald Trump. Nikki Haley, unfortunately, fit this narrative perfectly.

If you look past the Trump ass licking for a moment though, Nikki Haley could be the future of the Republican party, if she gives herself the wings to fly and not remain a perpetual caterpillar in a MAGA cocoon.

Rating - 6/10.

7. Governor Ron DeSantis.

The defacto leader of the pack had everything going wrong for him leading up to the debate. A campaign hanging on it's last leg with donors allegedly shopping for other options, staff reshuffle that hasn't produced any new results except making the governor commit acts experts say might be illegal just to get on the news and a leaked debate prep memo, illegally compiled by an outside Super PAC who shouldn't be working with his campaign in the first place all with a robotic candidate at the top who needed to be reminded to act more "likeable" whatever that means.

Ron DeSantis argued, post debate, he could have gotten a private sector job after Harvard and made lots of money, I think it's time he seriously consider that because, (where is the camera?) Governor, you're never going to be president.

Governor DeSantis did not have a horrible showing on the debate stage, maybe because a lot of the anger and attacks were directed towards Vivek Ramaswamy but that tells you all you need to know about the DeSantis campaign, no one treated him like the frontrunner because he's been plummeting in the polls since he announced his run for president. DeSantis is probably the only candidate who polled higher before he got in the race than when he officially became a candidate. 

I will not be surprised if he steps down before Iowa or immediately after. 

His obsession with being an anti-woke crusader is going to be the end of him and sadly, he does not seem to have any other message!

His attempt at quoting the lyrics of a now popular anti-woke song fell flat and every attempt he made to break through the noise did not yield any tangible result. Governor DeSantis is just not presidential material. He's too wooden!

Again, DeSantis did not have a terrible night but against the backdrop of expectations and his campaign needing a desperate boost, he did not inspire any confidence and I am willing to bet, did not win over any new voter. His old supporters probably fell asleep midway through the debate or started looking at other candidates, his donors definitely have a new shortlist of candidates by now.

Rating - 5/10.

8. Vivek Ramaswamy

"Who the heck is this skinny guy with a funny last name? What the heck is he doing in the middle of this debate stage?"

Where have I heard a similar line before?

Oh, they all want to be Barack Obama so bad. From Tim Scott's message of hope to Donald Trump trying to be a celebrity president, Republicans pretend to hate Obama but they secretly just want to be him. I bet some of them have posters of "hope" and "change" in their bedrooms.

Vivek Ramaswamy was the star of the show for several reasons. First, he played Trump's surrogate. Rudy Giuliani only left for a few minutes to get his mugshot at Fulton county and Vivek Ramaswamy crawled up Trump's ass and made it home for 2 hours. Mr. Ramaswamy said Donald Trump is the best president of the 21st century and everybody else on stage, except him, of course, was bought and paid for. It's over the top proclamations like that that make me question some successful entrepreneurs. How are you so successful and able to conjure stupid sentences like that? (Hello Ben Carson and Elon Musk)

Mr. Ramaswamy was also the one who acted like a front runner, effectively taking the place of Ron DeSantis (as new polls have begin to reflect). He took shots and fired some of his own effectively, managing to land some on Chris Christie and Mike Pence, for a so called rookie, that's not a bad night.

Vivek Ramaswamy also had some innovative, new ideas and zingers. "Pope Zelensky"? Good one, Vivek.

Whether you agree with a candidate's position or not is post debate drama but on stage, every candidate have two missions - get the attention of the audience and sell original ideas, in my opinion, only Ramaswamy and Haley did.

Rating - 6.5/10

Finally, the answer to whether or not Trump made a mistake skipping the debate was answered from the top and echoed throughout the 2 hours debate- a resounding No. Only mistake Donald Trump made was offering a counter programming, denying the people who opted not to watch the opportunity to see 8 adults make a fool of themselves in honour of him.

The Republican party have surrendered it's authority to Donald Trump's MAGA base and the only lens to judge conservatism these days is how far up Trump's one is willing to climb.