By Ray Cardello for September 25, 2023, Season 22 / Post 12

The second GOP debate for the 2024 primary will take place this Wednesday, and not only will there be fewer people on the stage, but there will be a different sense of urgency about them. The six candidates likely to be on stage are Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence, former U.N. ambassador and South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, U.S. Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, biotech investor Vivek Ramaswamy, and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. To many, myself included, Ron DeSantis has been a surprise and disappointment. Perhaps the distraction of running a state and doing it very well has taken his eye off the prize, or maybe our expectations of his presence on the national stage were set too high. He came into the race in a solid second place, only behind former President Trump, but has not connected with the folks of Iowa and New Hampshire and has dropped steadily in the rankings. Maybe not at the point of desperation yet, but DeSantis has to have a monumental night on Wednesday. His policies are sound, but his likeability numbers are dragging him down. He has to come out and convince viewers and voters that he is as Presidential as Gavin Newsom. There was talk of a made-for-TV debate between DeSantis and Newsom, and I think that testosterone-driven event would speed his decline.

Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy have been steady, and Vivek has moved into the second in some polls. The others need to show why they are even in the game. Being in the single digits at this point should convince you that you may want the job, but America does not see you in the Oval Office. Pence and Scott are good men and have a message of hope and unity, but that message alone is not loud enough to make a difference. Chris Christie is not a good man, and his only purpose to be in the race is personal. He hates Donald Trump and wants to denigrate him at every opportunity. Many have tried that approach, ask the entire Democrat Party how that is working for them, but nothing seems to drag the polling numbers down; it only seems to bolster them.

In reality, do these debates have any importance in the 2024 Race? I think not. Unless the Democrats can find a way to legally keep Trump off the ballot and force Biden to the sidelines, it appears that America wants a rematch or a re-do. This scenario will be as ugly as an Ali vs. Frazier rematch. I do not think you will see Biden threaten to take Trump behind the barn this time unless it is to write initials in the snow. One thing that will be obvious if these two men stand on the debate stage together is what many of us have been saying for months: it is not age but acuity, and Trump will make Biden look like the feeble older man he is.

The debate will happen this week, and there will be more to come, but these sessions are not even an audition for a second spot on the ticket. If Trump is successful in surviving politically until the main event, I think he will snub all of the established possibilities for a running mate and surprise the world. I have no idea who it might be, but it will be worth tuning in for and probably more interesting than the debate.