Next year's Presidential Election looks to be one of the most competitive and divisive in recent history. When President Joe Biden took office in January of 2021, America hoped for positive change after four years under one of the most controversial Presidents in American history, Donald Trump. Since then, however, America has experienced hard times notably with high inflation, rising prices, a border crisis, and controversial foreign policy, while the country remains as polarized as ever before.
Despite a difficult three years, President Joe Biden is likely to be the Democratic nominee, but he does have some primary challengers. On the Republican side of things, there are fourteen candidates currently seeking the Republican nomination, but just eight candidates appeared at last night's debate. To make the stage, a candidate must have at least 40,000 unique donors, poll at least 1% in three national polls approved by the RNC, and pledge to support the eventual Republican nominee, whomever that may be.
Last night's debate featured eight notable candidates, consisting of six governors, a senator, and an entrepreneur. The governors who showed were North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Governor and UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, and former Indiana Governor and Vice President under Donald Trump, Mike Pence. South Carolina Senator Tim Scott also appeared, as did entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who has polled well despite having no prior experience in politics. Burgum was rumored to miss the debate after a leg injury but managed to appear in a debate full of winners, losers, and in-between.
Winner: Nikki Haley
Nikki Haley was on the attack last night, going after heavy hitters like Mike Pence and Vivek Ramaswamy and touted her experience, youth, and social conservatism as a fighter for women's rights. Ramaswamy, has faced arguably the most criticism from Haley, as she called him out for his lack of experience mostly regarding foreign policy. Although one might label Haley a “neoconservative”, she provided strong answers, and was not afraid to involve herself in the more heated moments.
Grey: Doug Burgum
The North Dakota Governor regardless of performance deserves major props for even being on stage after injuring his Achilles tendon playing pickup basketball the morning of the debate. That being said, while he didn’t say anything that his opponents could attack him on, he didn’t do much to stand out. Burgum spoke of his success as Governor of North Dakota and how his small-town upbringing shaped him along with America’s need to renew the importance of families. Overall Burgum had a solid performance but didn’t really have a true standout moment.
Loser: Chris Christie
Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie might have had the worst showing out of anyone on stage last night. Christie went after former President Donald Trump's conduct in office before pivoting, and Ramaswamy, even comparing the latter to former President Barack Obama. That quickly proved to be a mistake as Ramaswamy brought up Christie's hug with Obama, saying that Christie helped get Obama reelected. Christie was also accused of running a campaign motivated by nothing other than stopping Trump, which may have been the worst moment on stage for the former New Jersey Governor.
Winner: Ron DeSantis
DeSantis was an interesting candidate to watch going into the debate and his performance might be just what the doctor ordered. He left the debate largely unscathed as he wasn’t really attacked, which allowed him to stick to his main points of ending “Bidenomics” and education reform. Whenever the Florida Governor made a point onstage, he was greeted with enthusiastic applause and his way of conducting himself harkened back to his 2022 self where his popularity won him reelection by over 19 points. It wasn’t a flashy showing, but he stayed consistent and didn’t partake in over-the-top attacks on his opponents.
Grey: Tim Scott
Senator Tim Scott has gained plenty of support for his humble beginnings and commitment to Conservative values. In the debate, Scott talked about his commitment to social conservatism, and while he provided some good answers, he was largely nonimpactful. Scott stayed out of the truly heated moments, which may have kept him from a bad performance, but he didn’t quite make a point that stood out against other Republicans.
Loser: Asa Hutchinson
The former Arkansas Governor didn’t have the kind of night that you would want as a smaller-name candidate. He was booed multiple times as he failed to resonate with voters on abortion and Trump’s indictments among other things. Another thing worth mentioning is that he had the least amount of talking time of all candidates at just 7 minutes and 24 seconds. Plain and simple, Hutchinson didn’t do nearly enough to solidify himself in a large GOP field and whereas another low-polling candidate like Doug Burgum was able to articulate some popular talking points, Hutchinson did not.
Winner: Vivek Ramaswamy
Arguably the biggest winner of the debate is the entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who had been gaining serious momentum in the polls before the debate. During the debate, most of his responses were met with as much applause as Ron DeSantis received and observers seemed to like most of his positions. As an outsider, he has unorthodox ideas that many of his competitors attacked him for, but Ramaswamy returned fire, claiming how he was the only candidate not beholden to super PACs and how his attackers (such as Mike Pence and Nikki Haley) were “bought and paid for”. He seems to have gotten the most attention after the debate, topping Google trends in searches and seeing an increase in social media following.
Loser: Mike Pence
Former Vice President Mike Pence had a rough performance at last night's debate. Pence was hammered on everything from abortion to foreign policy, notably by Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy, and was emotional throughout as compared to his strong, and calmer performances in the Vice-Presidential debates in 2016 and 2020. Although Pence had a poor showing, every candidate on stage credited him for certifying the 2020 election results, something former President Trump and his supporters have routinely criticized him for.
Former President Donald Trump skipped last night's debate to have an interview with former Fox host Tucker Carlson but remains way ahead in the polls. Another candidate who was not at the debate was Perry Johnson. Johnson had the poll numbers, the donors, and signed the pledge to support the eventual Republican nominee but was not invited to last night's debate. The next Republican debate will take place on September 27th in Simi Valley, California, at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, as each candidate looks to close the gap between them and Donald Trump.
Have an opposing viewpoint to this opinion? Let us know. All views are welcome. Send your thoughts to our Editorial Staff – Editor Dylan Hicks dhicks@student.dean.edu or Dean Daily Faculty Advisor, Professor John Rooke jrooke@dean.edu