Ramaswamy and Haley show the GOP’s divergent paths coming out of the debate
By Maeve Reston, Hannah Knowles, Dylan Wells and Marianne LeVine
August 24, 2023 at 8:13 p.m. EDT
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/08/24/republican-presidential-debate-ramaswamy-haley/

After her well-received debate showing, Nikki Haley’s campaign worked the phones, collected checks from donors and raised more online in the last 24 hours than on any day since the campaign started, according to an adviser. Onstage the night before, the former U.N. ambassador had positioned herself as the biggest general election threat to Democrats and argued that Donald Trump will be too busy defending himself in court to defeat President Biden.

Vivek Ramaswamy was trying to capitalize on his own post-debate buzz. As the fiercest defender of Trump onstage, calling him “the best president of the 21st century,” the 38-year-old first-time candidate and his team looked to expand their support from small-dollar donors and grass-roots Republicans who are drawn to the former president’s combative style and extreme ideas.

Their dueling efforts served as an illustration of the chasm in the Republican Party as the underdog candidates labor in Trump’s shadow. The former president skipped Wednesday’s debate, providing an rare spotlight for his rivals. Ramaswamy and Haley offered diverging paths — with the tech entrepreneur promising to lead the party by Trump’s example and with Haley urging a break with the former president while trying to appeal to a broader sector of voters by arguing she is more electable.