It’s understandable if you’ve forgotten, but seven Republican presidential candidates will debate on Wednesday evening. Donald Trump will be in Michigan for a speech that the media has gone along with him in describing as being to union workers, even though it’s being held at a nonunion facility. That leaves a debate between a group of candidates trailing in polls by a minimum of 40 points. It’s no wonder no one is talking about it.
The cast of characters will be almost the same as those in last month’s debate in Milwaukee. Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson missed the cut this time around, leaving Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, shady businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, former Vice President Mike Pence, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Sen. Tim Scott, and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum to battle it out. Doesn’t that list of names make you want to rethink your evening plans so you can catch the debate?
Interest in this debate is so low that Fox News has reportedly slashed ad rates from $495,000 for a 30-second spot during the first debate to just over $200,000 for this one. “Sans Trump … these debates just aren’t big-time TV, because the GOP primary race has become a snoozer,” an ad buyer told Semafor.
In the first debate, there was at least the plausible hope that someone would have a breakout moment. Ramaswamy did grab a lot of attention with his fast-talking, know-nothing, toothy performance, but it didn’t translate to gains in the polls. Haley had a strong performance and did improve her standing among the non-Trump candidates—but that means she’s sitting at 6% rather than 3.5%. DeSantis had experienced an embarrassing drop-off in polls by the time of the first debate, which was seen as his chance to turn things around. He didn’t careen off a cliff, but he also didn’t make up much ground.
It’s hard to think the second debate will magically be more relevant than the first one, but every candidate on that stage is going in with some kind of a plan, or at least a hope. In August, DeSantis was widely seen as facing a do-or-die moment, but instead, he appeared to want to do just enough to survive. That performance sets the expectations for this one low. That may suit DeSantis: Most candidates want expectations low so that they can appear to exceed them. Haley, on the other hand, seems to want high expectations, with her campaign telling donors it is “ready to capitalize on the momentum after Nikki walks off stage.” Ramaswamy is unlikely to change anything about himself, ever. Pence had a big moment last time around, arguing that the U.S. needed to support Ukraine, but it didn’t help his poor polling. It’s not clear anything could. Similarly, Christie and Scott are trailing so badly it’s hard to see a path to relevancy for them. Christie could launch the fierce attack on Trump or DeSantis that he shied away from last time, but it’s going to be hard to shed the stench of cowardice from that performance. Scott will also be there. Burgum will be there too, leaving everyone watching to wonder why he’s there.
It all kicks off at 9 PM ET, on Fox News and Fox Business, various Fox News streaming outlets, and right-wing video-sharing platform Rumble. It will be moderated by Fox Business Network host Stuart Varney, Fox News Channel host Dana Perino, and Univision anchor Ilia Calderón.
Republished with permission from Daily Kos.
