The Republican Primary debate was the start of the race for many casual observers. Eight candidates took the stage whilst Trump announced he would not debate. So Starting from worst to best how did the candidates perform?
Asa Hutchinson
He was forgettable, got booed, and had zero moments.
Chris Christie
Christie had his moments against Vivek Ramaswamy where he compared him to Barack Obama for stealing his lines. However, the blows he landed on Ramaswamy will not benefit himself, just as his attacks on Rubio didn’t help out his failed 2016 campaign.
Tim Scott
There was nothing there. He was longwinded, slow, and brought very little to the table.
Nikki Haley
Nikki Haley came out openly against the biblical position on abortion and advocated compromising with the liberals on this issue. She was the most neocon on Ukraine.
Mike Pence
Mike Pence outperformed his pitiful record of cowardice. In the face of Nikki Haley’s feminist screed on abortion, Mike Pence reminded here that leaders don’t govern by consensus.
Doug Bergum
On a physiogamy level, Bergum is A+, as he looks somewhat like Al Pacino. Playing off the small town background was eerily reminiscent of John Kasich but he provided a level of competent milquetoast answers you’d expect.
Vivek Ramaswamy
Ramaswamy was a source of entertainment due to his combative posture towards the other candidates. However, his casual lies and his salesman approach are not as effective towards people not on Twitter. The less online person is not buying what he’s selling. Additionally, most primary voters are old, and the activist I watched the debate with did not like his performance. The Reagan era conservatives perhaps see Vivek Ramaswamy as a young, inexperienced Walter Mondale. But in any case, Ramaswamy alienated himself with many Republican voters with that performance.
Ron DeSantis
Ron DeSantis did not have a flawless performance by any means, but he did the job and avoided most pitfalls. While his initial answer on Ukraine was bad, he had the strongest answers on most questions be it education, border security, and casting a vision. DeSantis avoided attacks but also avoided alienating Republican factions. He’ll need to do better in the next debate, but he proved to be the competent leader on that stage.
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