The First Two Democratic Primary Debates in South Florida: Donald Trump versus Nikki Haley, R.R. DeSantis, U.S. Senator Vivek Ramaswamy, D.C.

Five candidates qualified, but the third Republican presidential primary debate on Wednesday was largely seen as a contest between Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis – once considered the most likely challenger to take on former President Donald Trump – and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, who has been making significant strides in early primary polls.

There will be just a few candidates on the stage. Just five candidates met the Republican National Committee’s qualifying rules this time around: former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, U.S. Sen. Tim Scott and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

North Dakota’s governor did not make it to this year’s debate. Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who appeared in the first debate, hasn’t qualified for these last two events. And former Vice President Mike Pence won’t be on stage tonight after he recently dropped out of the 2024 presidential race.

The former president has not qualified for any of the Republican debates so far, even though he has met the polling and fundraising thresholds. He didn’t meet a standard that requires candidates to promise to support whoever wins the nomination. Trump refused to sign that pledge and he also stated that he does not want to elevate his opponents by being on stage with them.

Just like in the last two debates, though, Trump is planning some counter programming. The debate will lead to a rally in nearby Hialeah. Hialeah is a predominately Cuban American area — which is a subset of voters Trump has done very well with. In 2020, Trump outperformed expectations specifically with Latino voters in South Florida.

All eyes are on Haley as an alternative to Trump. She was gaining support in the polls. She had strong debate performances that started the flow of her energy. There were high expectations that DeSantis would probably fill that role. However, his campaign has had a lot of pitfalls — and he has had some pretty lackluster performances in the last few debates.

While the Republican Party is more unified in its support for Israel (in contrast with the Democratic Party), the conflict has prompted some of the field’s sharpest criticism of Mr. Trump.

The Debatado de M. Scott en las Nubes del Regresivo Reino Alemandio

NBC will show the debate. The event can also be streamed at NBCNews.com and on NBC News Now, which is available on Peacock and other streaming services. The debate coverage on NBC and NBC News Now will start at 7p.m.

Spanish translations of the debate will be available on Noticias Telemundo website and mobile app. Universo, a Spanish-language NBC affiliate, will also broadcast the debate with translations.

Under criteria set by the Republican National Committee, candidates needed to have at least 70,000 unique donors (up from 50,000 for the second debate) and to record at least 4 percent support (up from 3 percent) in either two national polls or one national poll in addition to two polls from early-voting states.

Of the three undercards, Mr. Scott is, in the view of Republicans, the only one who seems to have much chance of breaking through. Until now he has been blotted out by higher-profile opponents, and the likelihood that this debate will be focused on Ms. Haley and Mr. DeSantis will not make things easier for him.

At the first two debates, Mr. DeSantis played the front-runner, attacking his opponents only when he was hit first. It might not work anymore if he wants to convince voters that he is the best choice for the general election, as Ms Haley has risen in the polls.

This has not been an easy stretch for Mr. DeSantis, in no small part because of the attacks from Mr. Trump on everything from his foreign policy credentials to his height. But Mr. DeSantis is on friendly turf in Miami: He won re-election as governor last year in a rout. The governor of Iowa endorsed him this week. Mr. DeSantis has staked his bid on his performance in the state’s first-in-the-nation caucuses on Jan. 15.

What are you going to do? he said in an interview. “If he says something which I think is worthy of being responded to, I’ll respond to it. I haven’t heard him say one thing worthy of being responded to after 4 hours on the debate stage.

The Challenge of Trump’s Nominating Campaign: Syria, the Middle East, and the War on the Hill in the 2020 Democratic Caucus

Foreign policy, with some noteworthy exceptions over the years, has not proved determinative in presidential nominating contests. But the war in Ukraine and the bloodshed in the Middle East are likely to feature prominently at the debate on Wednesday.

The question of U.S. assistance to Ukraine has divided the Republican Party, and could display clear differences among the candidates over whether they would follow Mr. Trump’s isolationist, populist path. The candidates are likely to be pressed on whether they back House Speaker Mike Johnson’s first major proposal — a plan to tie money for Ukraine to a border bill unpopular with Democrats.

At the Republican Jewish Coalition gathering last month, Ms. Haley attacked Mr. Trump for his comments about Hezbollah and Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

The debater was energetic in the first debate but became more of a target in the second debate. He is in the single digits in many polls, but he does not have the power to change the race going into tonight. Mr. Christie is not seen favorably by many in the Republican Party because of his attacks on Mr. Trump.

One major question is how many people will even be watching. Viewership dropped to just under 10 million in the second debate from 12 million in the first debate. It seems unlikely that Mr. Trump will make a dramatic appearance on the stage.

The audience is waning even though Mr. Trump is the most powerful Person on Earth. Even though a lot of Republicans are open to nominating someone other than Mr. Trump, the race can feel like it’s over before a single vote is cast.

The third Republican primary debate: Six takeaways from the debate on Donald Trump’s legacy and the role of his father, Haley Ramrish, and Chris Christie

During the debate in Miami, there were some tense exchanges between Haley and Ramrish, who at one point criticized Haley’s daughter. Also on stage were South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

It’s been a contentious primary so far, and as the field narrows, the undercard candidates appear to be feeling pressure to stand out from their rivals even as Trump continues to dominate.

Even though he was nowhere to be found, Trump went ahead and led the debate. NBC’s Holt started with a question, asking why they should be the nominee instead of the absent one.

The candidates all want to replace him, but they’re not sure how to go about taking on a popular leader who may be alienating voters.

The case that it’s time for a new leader was made by DeSantis, who said that Donald Trump is a different person now than he was in 2016 and should be on stage to answer for his record.

Haley repeated a line she has used on the campaign trail, describing herself as “pro-life,” while adding, “I don’t judge anyone for being pro-choice.” She said that the issue should not divide the country now that it has been overturned.

While avoiding the question of whether he would support Trump, Ramaswamy instead called for new leadership by painting a picture of a party that had been trounced in this week’s elections.

Ramaswamy also used the moment to take an unexpected dig at the debate moderators, suggesting instead that billionaire Elon Musk, podcaster Joe Rogan and former Fox News Host Tucker Carlson should have been helming the show.

Christie said that the United States needs a leader who would make it look outward and not just inward.

Source: 6 takeaways from the third Republican primary debate

Six takeaway lessons from the third Republican primary debate: Why Israel is so important to the Israeli people, and why Israel would not tolerate the threat of the Second World

Republican support for Israel is very strong, especially among the party’s white evangelical Christian base, which is why the candidates worked hard to demonstrate their support for the Jewish state.

The candidates were asked what they would tell Netanyahu. DeSantis said he would tell him to, “finish the job” with Hamas. As the war in Israel began, DeSantis tried to bring home Americans trapped in the country.

Ramaswamy said he would advise the Israeli leader to, “smoke those terrorists on his southern border and…I’ll be smoking the terrorists on our southern border.”

Ramaswamy supports free speech and said that the children don’t know what they are talking about when they side with Hamas. They are fools.”

When Ramaswamy voiced his doubts about the funding of Ukraine, Haley responded by saying that Russian and Chinese leaders were “plucky” that someone like that could become president.

Haley argued that backing both war efforts was part of a larger goal of pushing back against the influence of Russia, Iran and China by shoring up democracies around the world.

DeSantis said he would send troops to the border with Mexico, even though he pledged not to. He said that China was the nation’s greatest national security threat.

Scott also used the foreign policy discussion to pivot to the southern border, an issue that these candidates feel more comfortable talking about, and which voters often bring up on the campaign trail.

Source: 6 takeaways from the third Republican primary debate

Social Security and the Israel-Hamas War: A Viewpoint from Third-Republican Debate Mike (http://www.npr.org/2023/11/09/1211715610)

During a discussion about foreign policy surrounding the Israel-Hamas war, Ramaswamy appeared to take a swipe at either Haley, the only female candidate, or DeSantis, whose footwear has been a recent subject of speculation. Do you think Dick Cheney should wear three-inch heels?

The discussion continued with the topic of Chinese influence. The candidates were asked about the national security risk associated with TikTok by a conservative radio host.

Ramaswamy has been campaigning for TikTok, and asked how he would restrict his use of the product. The focus was shifted to Haley, accusing her daughter of using the app.

Both Christie and Haley said that they would increase eligibility for the program, but did not say how much. Christie said wealthy Americans shouldn’t accept Social Security, but didn’t specify the level of income he thought such a rule should apply to.

DeSantis wondered if Haley’s proposal of tying the retirement age to increased life expectancy since the program was created was really possible, as life expectancy has declined in recent years.

Scott warned against raising the retirement age for people with physical jobs that become more difficult to perform with age and appealed to the plight of farmers who do heavy physical labor in the state of Iowa.

Source: 6 takeaways from the third Republican primary debate

Six Takeways from the Third Republican Debate: The Case for Prohibited Abortion and Other Phenomenological Implications

A question on abortion seemed inevitable given the disappointing results of Tuesday’s election for Republicans who oppose abortion rights. The issue came up more than 90 minutes into the debate.

The challenge for Republican primary candidates when they talk about abortion is appealing to the party’s conservative base while avoiding alienating swing voters. As moderator Kristen Welker of NBC noted, that political risk for Republicans was underscored by the election results. The candidates were asked what they think the path forward is for Republicans on abortion.

Ramaswamy said he was “upset” about his home state, Ohio‘s, vote to add a reproductive rights amendment to the state constitution and called for a greater emphasis on “sexual responsibility for men” through paternity testing.

Christie, like Haley, emphasized the role of state legislatures in a post-Roe environment in deciding abortion policy. ” I trust the people of this country, state by state, to make this call for themselves,” Christie said, adding that he finds New Jersey’s abortion laws “reprehensible.”

Of the five candidates on stage Scott was the most direct to religious conservatives because of his Christian beliefs and opposition to abortion. Scott called for a national 15-week abortion ban, after former Vice President Mike Pence ended his campaign last month.

If a law is to be passed, a Republican majority in Congress as well as the presidency is required.

Source: 6 takeaways from the third Republican primary debate

A Conversation with Scott R. Scott (P.A.Sc. Scott, Jr., Op. J. C. Wilson, Ph.D. Sci. Phil. D. Moser, New York, March 14, 2003)

Scott spoke of the bible and said that he wanted to win the war in favor of the Christian conservative values that changed his life.