The Republican candidates for the White House will meet this Wednesday for the fourth primary debate. The event will once again miss former President Donald Trump, who is leading in polls among his party’s voters and believes the best way to maintain his advantage is to stay out of the event. Compared to the first debate, where there were eight candidates, there are only four left in this one. And among them are two, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former UN ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who are vying to be the alternative to Trump.
The trajectories of both are opposite. DeSantis, 45, was close to Trump in his voting intentions before entering the campaign. However, since he did this, he has only lost support. He introduced his candidacy in a failed Twitter interview with Elon Musk as moderator and has since failed to find the tone or message of the campaign. He hesitated about whether to attack Trump while mocking him. His strategy for the debates was made public, but he was later unable to put it into practice. And his campaign had management problems. Some major donors have begun to turn their backs on him. His Republican vote intention, which was nearly 40%, has fallen to 13%, compared to Trump’s 59%, according to the FiveThirtyEight poll.
Nikki Haley, on the other hand, is having a relatively nice moment in the campaign. The 51-year-old politician recently received the endorsement of American for Prosperity Action (AFP Action), the powerful and influential conservative network founded by the billionaire Koch brothers. He has shined in previous debates, where he demonstrated his experience in international politics, his willingness to tackle important reforms and his firm but moderate tone. His arguments with businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, 38, have brought his character to light. Polls suggest she is the rival who would secure Republican victory against Joe Biden in the November 5, 2024 presidential election, but to do so she would first have to defeat Trump in the primaries. Among Republican voters, his voting intention has risen to 10.5% and in some polls he is already ahead of DeSantis. Beating him would give him a huge boost in an emergency.
The Iowa caucuses on Jan. 15, 2024 and the New Hampshire caucuses on Jan. 23, 2024 will decide just 62 of the nearly 2,500 delegates who will choose the Republican presidential nominee at the party convention next July. However, because they are the first, the result is often transcendent.
DeSantis has the support of the governor in Iowa and has visited every single one of his counties. A big part of his bet was to emerge from the caucuses as a viable alternative to Trump. Now, however, Haley is on his heels and there’s a better chance the Florida governor will finish third than first in the state. The former UN ambassador is already ahead in the polls in New Hampshire and will play at home in South Carolina in February. His figure attracts moderate Republican voters, who remain unconvinced by Trump.
Moment of truth
Join EL PAÍS to follow all the news and read without restrictions.
Subscribe to
Particularly for Haley, who has maintained the upward trend, this Wednesday’s debate is being portrayed as the moment of truth. Since there are fewer candidates on stage, there is more time for each participant. She has benefited from this on previous occasions, but she needs to consolidate this trend if she wants to do more with her candidacy than just fight for second place.
The other two participants in this Wednesday’s debate in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, which will be broadcast by the minority news network NewsMax, are Ramaswamy – who surprised at the first meeting of eight in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in August but has since lost steam – and former New York governor Jersey, Chris Christie, who never had a chance with his openly anti-Trump speech. Christie’s retirement could benefit Haley.
The other four participants in the first debate were left behind along the way. Former Vice President Mike Pence, 64, was the first to announce his resignation; He was followed by Tim Scott, the Republican Party’s only black senator, 58 years old, and this week Doug Burgum, governor of North Dakota, 67 years old, threw in the towel. The mayor of Miami, Francis Suárez, also resigned without taking part in the debates due to lack of sufficient support; radio host Larry Elder; Businessman Perry Johnson and former Texas congressman Will Hurd, whose campaigns never got off the ground. Former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson, 72, who took part in the first debate but whose role is anything but marginal, has not officially resigned.
“The fourth debate is another fantastic opportunity for our Republican candidates to share our successful platform with the American people,” Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a statement Monday. The debates have been a defining moment in the primary campaign every election cycle, but with this year’s Trump boycott they have become less important. The Republican Party is considering changing the rules to allow debates on the eve of primaries that are not organized by the party itself, which previously required candidate exclusivity so that there are more events in the days before the primaries.
While the debate is underway, Trump will attend fundraisers in Florida.
Follow all international information on Facebook and Xor in our weekly newsletter.
Subscribe to continue reading
Read without limits
_