Tonight on FOX News in Milwaukee , Wisconsin…..
Eight sweepstakes contestants …Maybe….
NO Donald J. Trump……
It’s not an unreasonable question, with the runaway front-runner for the Republican nomination deciding to skip it.
But there’s a case that we might just be getting a clearer view of the race in Donald J. Trump’s absence. We will certainly get a clearer look at an important dimension of the race that we might not have otherwise been able to observe.
Let’s start with a question from a reader, James Tucker of Plano, Texas, who pointed to something we’ve never addressed head-on until now: the possibility that Mr. Trump might not be in the race.
“Mr. Cohn, I enjoy your columns. Do you see any pollsters asking Republicans: “If Trump is not in the race, who would be your choice?” The possibility is real enough.”
It will surely seem real enough tonight, without Mr. Trump on the debate stage.
And it’s a possibility that might gradually take on greater significance in the weeks and months ahead….
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Charlie Sykes: “There will be eight candidates on the stage, so they will have about 12.5 minutes each in which to have a breakout, viral moment to make everyone forget about DJT.”
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Washington Examiner: “His behind-the-scenes behavior in the last few months shows how important he believes the debate to be. He has prepared for the debate for months, hiring the top Republican debate consultant, Brett O’Donnell, in May when some other candidates had not yet devoted any time to debate preparations. (Some of the candidates started looking for help as recently as three weeks ago.) When some of DeSantis’s debate prep documents became public, either accidentally or on purpose, it showed a candidate who had been doing his homework.”
“DeSantis spent a lot of time preparing for a debate in which Trump would participate. But he always believed that he, DeSantis, would be the prime target of his fellow candidates even if Trump were onstage. And, of course, Trump himself could have been counted on to trash DeSantis at every opportunity. Plus, most of the other candidates would have been too afraid to attack Trump in a way they would happily attack DeSantis. All of this indicates that DeSantis stood to lose the most of any candidate onstage regardless of whether Trump appeared, and his fellow candidates would like to help DeSantis have a bad night.”
Reuters: In Trump’s absence, DeSantis seen as ‘punching bag’ in first Republican debate.
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Who Will Win The First Republican Debate?
We’re partnering with Ipsos and The Washington Post to poll voters before and after the candidates take the stage.
Wednesday is the biggest day of the 2024 presidential race so far. Eight candidates will take the stage in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for the first Republican primary debate. Chances are good that something will happen tonight that will be touted as a potential game-changer in the race: a viral moment, a particularly withering attack line, an out-of-nowhere tour de force. But how can we know whether that moment really changes voters’ minds, or if it was just a tale of sound and fury, signifying nothing? Ideally, we’d take voters’ temperatures on the presidential primary just before the debate, then go back to the same people after the debate and ask them the same questions again.
So that’s exactly what we’re doing. FiveThirtyEight has partnered with Ipsos and The Washington Post to conduct a Republican primary poll both before and after tonight’s debate. The charts below represent the views of likely Republican primary voters between Aug. 15 and Aug. 22, the first wave of the poll. Tomorrow, we’ll update this page with the results of the post-debate wave with new findings about what — if anything — changed….
Note…
I will NOT be watching this…..
I WILL be updating stuff about it….
image….Joseph Prezioso/Agence France-Presse — Getty
I am NOT watching the spectacle …
FiveThirtyEight (ABC News)IS live blogging the event….
Joe Biden had a great debate tonight!
Joe has been smart up to this point by reunning silent and deep….
As long as Donald Trump leads the GOP pack he’s a lock….
But I’m glad to see he’s beginning to do at least a little campaigning….
That wasn’t my point James.
His ‘Ad’?
President Biden’s reelection campaign has placed a large ad buy on the Fox News website ahead of Wednesday night’s first GOP primary debate, using the event to promote abortion rights messaging while making use of a popular meme relating to the president.
The “Dark Brandon” ads will be displayed on FoxNews.com beginning midnight Tuesday running through Thursday morning “highlighting President Biden’s commitment to fighting a national abortion ban and codify Roe,” the campaign said….
More…
Or?
Are U referring to to the debate performances?
Here are the spiciest moments in the GOP primary debate so far
It’s the first major opportunity to see what the Republican field looks like without Trump.
Pence to Ramaswamy: ‘We don’t need to bring in a rookie’
Haley leans into her gender: ‘If you want something done, ask a woman’
Vivek Ramaswamy calls climate change a ‘hoax’ during debate
Christie hits Ramaswamy: ‘Sounds like ChatGPT’
‘Rich Men North of Richmond’ kicks off the GOP debate
More…
The Real Winner of the Debate…the American People…Republican Viewership was at 13 million…compared to 24 million in 2016 with Donald Trump Headlining the debate. No one cares about all these candidates…they are second tier candidates…
Only hope for Republicans…Biden and Recession otherwise they are just a disaster anywhere you look…the guys who are decent can’t get any air time cause the looney’s suck all the air out the room, primarily trump…but then the Disney Hatin DeSantis and Whack Job of Ramsawami…
I couldn’t agree with ya MORE BDog
I’ve been preaching something similar here for quite some time……
Drip…DRIP…DRIP…..
Watched several recaps of the circus. Ramaswamy came out strongest(Haley also turned in a serviceable enough performance, to my surprise) and proved himself to be the only candidate who was ever capable of beating Trump in this new age of politics. Already a stronger bet than Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, or Ben Carson. A flavor of the month that might last and get him to second place.
Still not enough to win., but he’s the favorite to be VP.
There was a bit of a flap over who didn’t make it onto the stage. ElderLarry, the radio talker whose 2021 CA Recall candidacy singularly handed the race to Newsom and paved the way for depressed statewide turnout the next year(handing the House to the GOP in the process), is running for President and is suing the RNC for blocking him from the debate stage. He cited a Rasmussen poll that had him at 2% as evidence he should have been included. I didn’t know he was even running, let alone registering in polls. Would have certainly been another interesting clown at last night’s circus.
Clown show indeed SE….