The Republican Debates

By Rachel Nadelmann ‘25
This past fall, Republicans gathered at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, for the Second Republican Presidential Debate.

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All Republican presidential contenders, with the exception of Donald Trump and Asa Hutchinson, were in attendance. By all accounts, the debate was a spirited two-hour exchange of the candidate's differing opinions. 
Many candidates stood out from the rest and enhanced their standings in the race. Amongst the strongest performances was given by Nikki Haley from South Carolina, who attacked Ron Desantis by accusing him of banning fracking in Florida, an issue that resonates strongly with several swing states. 
Haley also successfully sparred with Vivek Ramaswamy when she criticized his comments on the use of social media by teens: "Every time I hear you, I feel a little bit dumber.” 
She also criticized Tim Scott for his inability to limit spending during his time in the Senate, saying, “Where have you been? Where have you been, Tim? Twelve years we’ve waited, and nothing has happened.” Junior Austin Colm says, “Nikki Haley has a firm and collaborative approach to addressing decisive issues that currently plague our nation.” 
The three candidates whose performances were more mixed were Ron Desantis, Tim Scott, and Chris Christie. Desantis was effective in his attacks on Donald Trump, who refused to show up to yet another debate, pointing out that Trump’s absence showed a fear of confronting his competition. However, Desantis failed to effectively counter Pence’s accusation of increasing Florida’s budget by more than 30% during his tenure as governor. Likewise, he also failed to defend himself against Haley’s claim that he took steps in Florida to block fracking - which Republicans almost universally support.
    Similarly, Tim Scott’s performance was decidedly mixed. The South Carolina Senator challenged Ramaswamy for his business ties to China and attacked Haley for supporting increased gas taxes while she was governor of South Carolina. Scott failed to register any damning attacks on his opponents. 
    Chris Christie, true to form, continued his assault on former president Donald Trump in his failure to show up to the past two debates. Leveling his comments directly to Trump, Christie said, “No one up here is going to call you Donald Trump anymore; we’re gonna call you Donald Duck.” Christie also effectively emphasized the danger posed by an alliance between China and Russia. However, Christie was only remembered for his shots at Trump rather than memorably presenting his own positions. 
    When it came to Vivek Ramaswamy, Mike Pence and Doug Burgum, their performances were received as tepid. Ramaswamy failed to deflect the many attacks lodged at him by his fellow candidates for his business dealings with China. Aside from attempting to defend himself against his candidates, Ramaswamy could not make any persuading arguments about why he should be president. 
    “I believe Vivek’s success in the first debate was largely because he came out of seemingly nowhere and made a big splash, getting a lot of screen time and clearly trying to portray himself as something like a Trump surrogate on the debate floor, in Trump’s absence,” said junior Shayne Cytrynbaum. “But by the second debate, the other candidates were used to him and able to push back much more, and I think a lot of viewers now see Vivek as simply a loud, obnoxious contrarian, without the charisma that Trump or the prudence that Biden has.”
    Pence repeatedly failed to address the questions directed at him by the moderators. When pressed on whether the Affordable Care Act was here to stay, Pence ignored the question entirely and instead called for the passing of a federal law expediting the death penalty. Despite being asked on multiple occasions about how he would respond to the “dreamers” in the United States, Pence ignored the question each time. 
    Even though Doug Burgum, North Dakota governor, needed to make memorable comments in the debate to boost his poll numbers, he failed to do so. At one point in the debate, Burgum attempted to interject; however, he was met with a moderator’s response of “Sir, we’ll have to cut your mic, and I don’t want to do that.”
Throughout the evening, the three moderators tried their best to control the debate, but the interruption and arguments of the candidates overpowered their efforts. 
The Second Republican Presidential Debate displayed the candidates' true passion to stand out from each other, making the debate all the more riveting. Each candidate's performance signified the strengths and weaknesses that lay ahead for their campaign trails.
The Third Debate of the season took place last November in Miami, Florida with many topics to discuss, specifically the outbreak of the war between Israel and Hamas.
Compared to previous debates, the candidates spent much time discussing foreign policy. All candidates expressed their condemnation of antisemitism and outgoing support of Israel. However, it shocked many people that no candidates discussed the protection of Palestinian civilians in Gaza.
Abortion, another hot topic was discussed which revealed the distinctions between candidates' views. 
    Nikki Haley stated, “I don’t judge anyone for being pro-choice, and I don’t want them to judge me for being pro-life.”
    Haley expressed her desire to eliminate the divide between pro-life and pro-choice and work towards saving as many babies as possible.
    Tim Scott, who has since dropped out of the race, said in the debate that abortions are “unethical and immoral” and Ron DeSantis critisized Democrats for supporting abortions without time restrictions.
    At the peak of the discussions between candidates, Ramaswamy and Haley’s discussion got a little heated. Ramaswamy noted that Haley’s daughter is an active user of TikTok and Haley responded with “Leave my daughter out of your voice. You’re just scum.”
    Despite the performances of the candidates, political analysts still seem confident that Trump will be the Republican Candidate in the 2024 Presidential Election and it will be difficult for any of the other candidates to surpass him.
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