OPINION: Second Republican debate yields nothing new

Danny Murnin is a junior studying journalism and assistant opinion editor for The New Political. 

Please note that these views and opinions do not reflect those of The New Political.

Editor’s Note: This article was updated to include the author’s information.

Republican voters who are still undecided about who they will support to be their party’s nominee for the 2024 Presidential Election did not miss much in the second primary debate on Wednesday night.

I’ve watched many presidential primary debates, both Democratic and Republican since I first developed an interest in politics years ago. This was easily the worst debate I’ve ever seen in just about every way. 

The biggest reason is that this debate was pointless. Former President Donald Trump, the Republican frontrunner for the nomination, skipped this debate, just like the last one on Aug. 23. On the day of the first debate, Trump had the support of 52.1% of Republican voters, according to 538’s national polling average of the contest. As of Wednesday, that number had slightly risen to 54 percent. No other candidate even reaches 15%. 

In my review of that last debate, I said that the other Republican candidates needed to start finding more ways to stand out and properly distinguish themselves from Trump if they wanted a chance at the nomination. The seven candidates on stage last night did not do that. 

Trump was not a major topic at the debate, nor was how any of the candidates on the stage planned to realistically overcome a massive polling deficit to win the nomination over him. This is partially the fault of the moderators, who relegated the issue to the final five minutes of the debate. 

Moderator Dana Perino actually asked the candidates to each write down on a piece of paper the candidate on stage they thought should drop out of the race. While I don’t agree with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis much, I agreed with his response that the question was inappropriate and disrespectful to the candidates on stage. 

Still, when DeSantis was asked a follow-up question about his plan to overcome Trump’s massive polling lead, he unsurprisingly shifted to rehearsed talking points about how polls don’t vote and how his agenda will resonate with voters. 

So what did the candidates talk about for nearly two hours? Not much. 

They spent a good chunk of time discussing the state of the economy, an issue that voters feel overwhelmingly unhappy with. All of them had a lot of blame to lay at the feet of President Joe Biden, but few solutions to offer. 

On immigration, the candidates again blamed Biden for the situation at the border, but their belief that building a wall and increasing personnel, resources and funding for border patrol would fix the problem is simply out of touch with reality. Immigration may very well be the most complicated major political issue in the country, but the Republican candidates on stage only addressed a part of the problem. 

On abortion, the candidates still remain very out-of-touch with the American people. DeSantis defended signing an extreme six-week abortion ban in Florida, and also said he would sign a federal abortion ban if elected. Just 37% of Americans approve of such a ban, according to polling. 

Of course, it wouldn’t have been a proper Republican debate without personal insults, weird comments and fights over things that are completely irrelevant. On a question about education reform, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said a reason Biden cannot be trusted on the issue is because he is “sleeping with a member of the teachers union”, a very gross way to refer to the First Lady. Following that remark from Christie, former Vice President Mike Pence, who is also married to a teacher, felt it necessary to say that “I’ve been sleeping with a teacher for 38 years.”

Vivek Ramaswamy was just as unlikable in this debate as he was in the last one. He irritated former South Carolina Governor and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley so much that she actually said she loses intelligence hearing him speak. Ramaswamy also faced criticism from the candidates on past business ties to the Chinese Communist Party as well as his decision to create a TikTok account. 

The most ludicrous moment of the night however, was between Haley and South Carolina Senator Tim Scott. A conversation that started with Scott critiquing Haley for supporting a raise of the gas tax while governor, somehow ended with a loud back-and-forth on what year $50,000 of curtains for a State Department residence was purchased. 

On this note, I feel that no candidate did more to hurt their stock during this debate than Tim Scott, who is often mentioned as a possible running mate for Trump, but he appeared awkward and unsure of himself on Wednesday. 

Still, any small bump or slide Scott or any of the other candidates on the stage get in the polls is likely of no consequence. As the Iowa Caucus draws closer, Trump’s chances of winning the nomination only seem to grow stronger. With the next debate in November, I hope some of these candidates decide to drop out before then. Perhaps that could lead to more substantive discussions on the issues and how to take on Trump. 

That needs to be the main topic of discussion at the next debate and any future ones. The moderators failed to be honest with the audience about the very slim chance anyone on that stage will actually be the nominee, as over half of Republican voters have seemingly decided they want Trump. Policies and issues are important, but they aren’t relevant in a debate with people who won’t get a chance to implement them.