CNN
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Republican rivals Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis clashed Wednesday in the first in-person debate of the 2024 campaign, each delivering a decisive blow that could make them the only viable challengers to Donald Trump. I’m looking for something.
The CNN debate, which will take place five days before the Iowa caucuses, is a powerful moment for both men ahead of the first vote in a landmark election that will see the former president become the frontrunner for the Republican nomination for a third consecutive year. This is the last chance to change the relationship.
President Trump is pursuing his usual strategy of disrupting political orthodoxy, but boycotting the event is more likely than the campaign’s traditional stop on its way to the White House. This reflects the fact that cases often go through courts that hear multiple cases.
The juxtaposition came to light Tuesday as Trump appeared before a Washington, D.C., appeals court to hear lawyers argue that he should enjoy absolute presidential immunity for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election. was proven. The case sheds light on Trump’s perception of an unfettered, all-powerful presidency, a precursor to a possible second term, and highlights the dangers of the 2024 election.
The only viable way in which the former president, who remains a leading figure in the Republican Party, could face a real test in the primaries is if all Republican opposition to him is corralled by a single candidate. is. Unless that happens within days, the hopes of Republicans looking for another person could be dashed again, just as they were when Trump rose to power from a divided field in 2016. There is. According to CNN’s latest poll, Haley has narrowed her lead to Trump in New Hampshire to single digits, but still holds a significant lead in the state’s primary, which will be held just a week after Iowa. .
Wednesday’s debate could therefore represent a key moment. Nothing is set in stone because voters have not yet given their verdict. But Trump’s advantage is such that neither Haley nor DeSantis can answer the key question of the campaign: 91 criminal charges on January 6, 2021, without alienating Republican voters who were sympathetic to him. It shows a failure to answer the question of how to exploit the accusations and attacks on American democracy. Their failure to do so is indicative of a party long in thrall to Mr. Trump, with many grassroots conservatives buying into his false claims of 2020 voter fraud and his legal entanglements. It is a fact that they agree is the result of political persecution.
How Haley and DeSantis attack each other
Both Haley and DeSantis have offered unique visions for the future direction of their party and a coherent platform for the presidency. The Florida governor promised President Trump’s right-wing populism would be more effective and disciplined than what the former president launched in his first term.
After touring Iowa’s 99 counties, Mr. DeSantis has shown that by taking hard stances on immigration and culture war issues, and feuding with Washington’s “elites,” he has actually resonated with conservative voters who despise the political establishment. He is presenting himself as the only major candidate who is being listened to. “Mr. Trump is running for his issues. Haley is running for her donor’s issues. I’m running for your issues,” DeSantis told CNN in Iowa last week. He spoke at a town hall.
Haley has called for a return to more traditional pre-Trump conservatism, adopting an internationalist Ronald Reagan-style foreign policy and blaming Democrats as well as Republicans for the country’s rising national debt. I promise. She also promises to appeal to voters who are not hardcore Republicans, which is why she beats President Joe Biden more easily than any other Republican candidate in many hypothetical matchup polls. This message may have some potential. “The only way to win over the majority of Americans is to move forward with a new generation of leaders who leave behind the negativity and baggage of the past and advance solutions for the future,” Haley said. Hall meeting at Iowa State on Tuesday.
Both Haley and DeSantis have responded cautiously to Trump’s criminal charges. Haley promises relief from the “chaos” she causes. It’s a euphemistic appeal to Republican voters tired of the former president’s historicism, scandals and legal troubles. DeSantis pledges to more effectively implement his “Make America Great Again” policy. But Trump’s lead in most polls in the Republican race makes him a dangerous candidate given his tendency to drive out more moderate voters in key battleground states. , raising the possibility that grassroots Republican voters are not ready to move on.
Wednesday’s debate also marks a fateful personal watershed for Haley and DeSantis. And given the fact that only two candidates will be taking the stage for the first time in a Republican campaign, this showdown could potentially expose weaknesses and strengths that would not have been exposed in a free multi-candidate election. be.
Haley is on a roll. In the constant game of expectation-setting that characterizes presidential campaigns, she is poised to jump into the New Hampshire primary with a strong showing on Monday — the biggest chance to win and hurt Trump. This is your chance. The former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations appeared in the debate after a CNN poll showed him ahead in the Granite State. That has increased pressure on former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to drop out of the race, where he is vying for the same crossover independent and undeclared voters as Haley, hurting his chances of defeating Trump. This is because there is a possibility that
New Hampshire Republican Gov. Chris Sununu has supported Haley and has long argued that even one anti-Trump candidate could defeat Trump in the Republican primary, and has led calls for Christie to resign. . But Christie’s campaign forcefully pushed back against Sununu’s comments on CNN on Tuesday that the former New Jersey governor’s team had been discussing withdrawal. Mr. Christie, who was once a Trump supporter but is now estranged from his former friends, has long maintained that he is the only prominent voice on the campaign trail willing to criticize Mr. Trump. “To stand in the way of someone who’s actually running against Donald Trump,” he said Tuesday, before accusing Haley of running for vice president and eyeing a 2028 presidential run. I’m willing to quit.”
In another sign of Haley’s growing influence, Trump has stepped up attacks on former cabinet members, accusing her of opposing travel bans from several Muslim-majority countries during his presidency. , criticizing Haley’s stance on immigration.
Despite some inexplicable gaffes, such as not citing slavery as the cause of the Civil War in her first event after the Christmas break, Haley continued to rank in the polls after a solid debate performance. Raised. But she will need to take her campaign to another level Wednesday night if she is to claim her anti-Trump front-runner role.
While Ms. Haley undoubtedly improved her political reputation during the campaign, Ms. DeSantis endured a tough time in her first challenge in the unrelenting national spotlight. His overwhelming re-election in 2022 and enactment of hard-line policies have positioned him as a powerful new political force and possible successor to President Trump, and until the Florida governor contests the nomination, he will remain President Trump. He regarded him as his disciple. Mr. DeSantis has battled the perception that he is clumsy on the stump, but his once ambitious national campaign is similar to that of fellow Florida high-flyers, former Gov. Jeb Bush and Sen. To avoid that fate, he may be narrowed down to an all-or-nothing position at Iowa State. Marco Rubio was deflated by President Trump’s attacks in 2016.
DeSantis is likely to address some of Haley’s recent gaffes. These include her comments on slavery and another irony to her New Hampshire audience that the state would “correct” the caucus verdict. He will be under tremendous pressure to present a more multifaceted and appealing stage persona than he has achieved in previous debates.
Florida’s governor appears to be a better fit for Iowa than Haley. She is a better fit for Iowa than Haley given her ability to appeal to Florida’s powerful evangelical voters and Trump supporters who like the former president’s hard-right policies but resent his lack of discipline. It looks like it is. So anything other than a strong second place in Iowa would raise existential questions for his campaign.
DeSantis’ resignation, or Haley’s sudden ouster, could create a direct confrontation that critics of the former president have always craved. But the evidence from the campaign so far is that many Republican voters don’t want a return to the pre-Trump era, and they don’t want a younger version. They want Trump.
That’s why the former president, who plans to spend Wednesday night in a friendly atmosphere across the street from Des Moines at Fox News City Hall, is confident he can avoid yet another debate with his rival. I have it.
