Republican debate: Four things to watch at the fourth contest in Alabama
December 06, 2023 01:50 PM
The Republican debate on Wednesday will pit most of the leading GOP candidates for president against one another for the fourth time this year, less than six weeks ahead of the Iowa caucuses.
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy will be on the debate stage in the pivotal event in Alabama. Former President Donald Trump will be skipping the debate, as he did with the first three. Here are the four things to watch for in the Wednesday debate.
Can DeSantis maintain momentum from the Newsom debate?
DeSantis has had a bumpy presidential campaign, with his performances in previous GOP debates generally viewed as solid, but his strong one-on-one debate performance against Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) last week is something the Florida governor looks to build on going into Wednesday’s Republican debate.
DeSantis was more aggressive during his debate with the California governor, who could be a future Democratic presidential candidate, than he had been against his Republican opponents in prior debates. After showing these punchier tactics, it remains to be seen if DeSantis will revert to his prior GOP debate plan or incorporate a more aggressive strategy as he seeks to brand himself the singular alternative to Trump in the Republican primary.
Can Haley hold momentum in early states?
Haley has garnered momentum through the first three Republican debates and has built that into strong polling performances in New Hampshire and South Carolina. The former South Carolina governor has begun to challenge the long-standing belief that DeSantis was the main alternative to Trump in the Republican field, and she has built up several key endorsements and donors.
Another strong debate performance could move Haley ahead of DeSantis and begin to challenge the former president for the nomination, but a poor performance in Wednesday’s debate could cause her to sink weeks ahead of the first primary contests.
Wilfredo Lee/AP
Christie and Ramaswamy’s last stand
Christie and Ramaswamy have both lost ground in recent months and are struggling to garner traction going into Wednesday’s debate and the primary contests.
Christie has sunk most of his hopes in the New Hampshire primary, given Iowa the cold shoulder, and remains in third place in the Granite State, according to the RealClearPolitics polling average. His polling outside of New Hampshire has left questions about his candidacy, with the former New Jersey governor only barely qualifying for this debate.
Ramaswamy has said that his campaign will “overperform expectations” in early primary states, but since his peak in late summer, the entrepreneur has fallen in the polls for the GOP nomination.
The Trump factor
While the former president will not be participating in the debate, he will loom large over the four candidates on the stage. He has a significant lead over the other candidates in the early states and nationally, according to the RealClearPolitics polling average, and has polled well head-to-head against President Joe Biden in a hypothetical general election matchup in recent months.
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One of the main things to watch among the four candidates is if any of them can get enough traction to knock Trump out of his lead. Since the first debate in August, Trump has not lost ground in the polls in any of the early states.
The debate will be moderated by SiriusXM’s Megyn Kelly, NewsNation’s Elizabeth Vargas, and the Washington Free Beacon’s Eliana Johnson. It will begin at 8 p.m. ET and will air on NewsNation and the CW and stream on Rumble.