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At times onstage, Republican rivals could imagine the primary race was about issues, ideology and biography. Then reality set in.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/24/us/politics/trumpism-trump-debate-republicans.html
It was, for 57 minutes, a glimpse into a post-Trump Republican Party.
They wrestled for long, heated stretches over policy and ideology. Young battled old. The lone woman chastised the seven men, casting herself as the adult in the room. Their personalities shone under the bright lights, displaying the strengths of a historically diverse field.
In the first primary debate of the 2024 race, the eight Republican participants tried to create a Trump-free zone — an alternative political universe where the G.O.P. race turned on issues, ideology and biography.
At least in the short term, the performance was unlikely to threaten Donald Trump’s dominance of the primary. He will probably pay little price for skipping the debate, a decision that allowed him to avoid direct questions — and challenges — not only about his criminal indictments but also some of the failed promises of his administration on immigration and federal spending.
He still leads the Republican race by double-digit margins, an advantage typically enjoyed by an incumbent president rather than a primary contender. A central challenger did not emerge on Wednesday night, leaving Mr. Trump with the benefits of a fractured field. Even a majority of those challenging him for the nomination said they would continue to support him if he was convicted.
Yet the former president’s absence created an opening, if an illusory one, for a broader array of conservative positions. Republicans have long discussed the far-off notion of what Trumpism without Mr. Trump would look like. For fleeting moments in Milwaukee, that possibility felt almost like a reality.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/24/us/politics/trumpism-trump-debate-republicans.html
It was, for 57 minutes, a glimpse into a post-Trump Republican Party.
They wrestled for long, heated stretches over policy and ideology. Young battled old. The lone woman chastised the seven men, casting herself as the adult in the room. Their personalities shone under the bright lights, displaying the strengths of a historically diverse field.
In the first primary debate of the 2024 race, the eight Republican participants tried to create a Trump-free zone — an alternative political universe where the G.O.P. race turned on issues, ideology and biography.
At least in the short term, the performance was unlikely to threaten Donald Trump’s dominance of the primary. He will probably pay little price for skipping the debate, a decision that allowed him to avoid direct questions — and challenges — not only about his criminal indictments but also some of the failed promises of his administration on immigration and federal spending.
He still leads the Republican race by double-digit margins, an advantage typically enjoyed by an incumbent president rather than a primary contender. A central challenger did not emerge on Wednesday night, leaving Mr. Trump with the benefits of a fractured field. Even a majority of those challenging him for the nomination said they would continue to support him if he was convicted.
Yet the former president’s absence created an opening, if an illusory one, for a broader array of conservative positions. Republicans have long discussed the far-off notion of what Trumpism without Mr. Trump would look like. For fleeting moments in Milwaukee, that possibility felt almost like a reality.
