Finally, the debate America deserved

Strong performances from everyone except Trump

Just when you thought that all hope was lost, that the Republican candidates would be unable to have a meaningful debate -- things finally turned around: The December 6 debate brought out the best in all participants.  The only loser was the non-participant: Trump.

MEGYN KELLY

The moderators in the first two debates in particular were horrible, and the third one not much better.  They were mostly leftist journalists who focused on issues that Republicans don’t care about, or came at the issues from a totally leftist narrative.  They could hardly have been any worse.  The RNC should be ashamed of itself, and Ronna should have resigned a long time ago.  The only reason she’s around is that she pays Trump’s legal bills.  A disgrace. 

In this debate, however, Megyn Kelly led the questioning, and she was superb on every level.  First, the questions were good, in terms of selection and formulation.  Second, she allowed some limited sparring between the candidates.  Third, she stopped the candidates as soon as they started talking over each other.  This is the way to do it.  No debate should ever be held again with an inferior moderator.  Megyn sets the standard. 

RON DESANTIS

DeSantis has never really had a bad debate moment, and in this debate he was better than ever.  It’s clear DeSantis is the undefeated leader of the conservative movement, and has the receipts to show for it.  He has never lost an election.  His record in Florida means that he comes with a 100% delivery guarantee.  DeSantis is the obvious safe choice for Republican President.  Truly a candidate who would win in a landslide against any Democrat, as he showed in 2022 when he won re-election by a whopping almost 20%.

The only heat DeSantis took was from Chris Christie, in terms of failing to answer a question directly about whether Trump is fit to be President.  DeSantis should simply have said that Trump is unfit.  He already has all the arguments.  DeSantis just needs to articulate the conclusion.  It would have disarmed Christie completely.

VIVEK RAMASWAMY

As always, Vivek is the smartest guy in the room.  I’m not saying that in a snarky way -- it’s a fact.  Vivek is objectively also the best debater, punching harder and with more clarity.  However, this is nothing new.  It has been obvious since at least the first debate, and it shows in other interviews as well. 

Interestingly and thankfully, Vivek and DeSantis agreed explicitly with each other on a couple of points.  Yes, it’s true: Vivek and DeSantis have the same policy positions over 95% of the time.  They are the closest thing it gets to policy twins, the Republican version of Clinton-Gore in 1992.  Young, fresh, articulate, powerful -- they are the obvious Republican ticket for 2024: DeSantis-Vivek.

NIKKI HALEY

Haley had long since dealt herself a weak hand, because of her record.  She’s basically a middle-of-the-road half-way Democrat who recently became enamored with hawkish foreign policy positions.  We know all the fawning things she said about New York Governor Andy Cuomo in 2020, and how she loved all things masks and vaccines.  She says that she wants foreigners on social media to ID themselves, but can’t explain how you find out who is a foreigner in the first place.  Has she heard of VPNs? 

However, for what it’s worth, she showed that she could argue her weak hand well.  No, she’s not as sharp as Vivek, DeSantis or Christie, but she’s no slouch in the broader perspective.  The big picture is that she would wipe the floor with Biden, Trump and most other Democrats.  It is important to keep that broader perspective in mind, even though as in my case I disagree with her policies relative to DeSantis and Vivek.

CHRIS CHRISTIE

Christie outperformed expectations more than anyone in this debate.  His debate skills are extremely nimble, and he finds the weaknesses in the other candidates, and scratches in their wounds to make it painful.  I appreciate this skill.  It wouldn’t be a debate without him.  It reminds me of that moment in the 2016 campaign cycle when Christie ended Marco Rubio’s presidential candidacy. 

Most importantly, Christie kept the focus on the coward who didn’t dare to subject himself to a debate: Trump.  He pointed out that Trump likely won’t be allowed to vote in November 2024, because it looks like Trump could be a convicted felon by that time.  And convicted felons don’t vote. 

DON TRUMP

Trump is the only politician who has ever lost a debate against Joe Biden (Fall 2020), so it is small wonder he refuses to debate anyone else at this point.  Trump simply can’t stand being around people who would question Mr Lockdown, Mr Vaccine, Mr Money-Printing, Mr Deficit and Mr Debt.  Trump continues to this day to say that he and his favorite sidekick, Dr Fauci, did nothing wrong in 2020.  No admission of guilt behind the worst year in American history since The Civil War.  

I have no doubt that Trump would, in 2024, beat Biden in a debate.  However, there will never be such a debate.  Why?  Two reasons: First, Trump has now set the precedent that one can refuse to debate.  So Biden would refuse to debate Trump under any circumstance.

However, it gets even worse for Trump:  By July or August, he is likely to be a convicted felon in the January 6 interference case in Washington DC.  The Judge may have him ordered to sit in jail pending sentencing.  Biden would easily refuse to debate Trump for that reason alone, either on principle, or in terms of it being impractical to debate someone who is in jail waiting to be convicted to 80 years in prison.  

Trump would end up getting, at best, around 30% of the vote in November 2024 and lose potentially all 50 states.  Nearly half of Republicans won’t vote for a convicted felon, and besides there is Robert Kennedy Jr anyway, who is a solid anti-vaxer and will attract at least 20% of Republicans even if Trump escapes a conviction in court. 

The one thing we know is that Trump was unable to win against Biden last time.  He should not be awarded a second chance.  The Republican Party has outstanding alternatives, and a DeSantis-Vivek ticket would certainly wipe the floor with ANY Democrat ticket, ranging from Biden to Newsom and everyone in-between.