The Republican debate was a total snoozefest - only one candidate stood out on stage

Donald Trump was the clear winner of Wednesday’s Republican presidential debate. He won because his absence saw him unsullied by the dull, uninspiring, second-rate affair that unfolded on the Reagan Library stage in California. He won also because the Seven Dwarfs of the Republican race amply demonstrated why Trump will be the party’s 2024 nominee. 

Donald Trump has the largest, most consistent lead of any candidate in any contested primary contest since reliable polling began. Anyone who suffered through the two-hour snooze fest knows exactly why.

The Seven Dwarfs produced a 120-minute campaign commercial that will not convince any current Trump voters to switch to them next spring. Nor will it convince any independents or disenchanted Democrats to vote Republican for president next November if they are not already planning to do so.

The debate told us everything we needed to know about the Republican contest. First, Trump is the only political star; he is the only watchable, entertaining, interesting figure running for the nomination. It is not a coincidence that nearly twice as many people were watching Trump’s evening speech to striking auto workers than the Trump-less debate.

Second, his opponents are boring, uncharismatic, too establishment, and unelectable. Tim Scott is incredibly dull, Mike Pence looked unwell, and Chris Christie’s theatrical turn as the Angry Elitist has grown tiresome.

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The debaters once more exhibited the lack of a common touch. Their scripted soundbites were designed to reassure and placate wealthy campaign donors rather than persuade and attract ordinary Americans. 

Only Vivek Ramaswamy is remotely aware of present-day realities. The other candidates sound stuck in a “Back to the Future” time warp. They talk about the Republican party, their country, and the world as if it is some time between 1983 and 2003, not 2023.

Their propensity to dodge difficult questions was matched only by their inability to do so artfully. A collective failure to make strong, incisive points on immigration, crime, the economy, and the Biden administration’s weaponization of the legal system served as a cautionary tale should one of them miraculously become the party’s standard bearer.

Third, Ron DeSantis should exit the race before his political career suffers an ignominious end. He simply does not get the whole campaigning thing. Scoring the political own goal of the campaign to-date, he actually blamed Trump rather than Biden for inflation. His preference for White House talking points over conservative ones was stunning.

Nikki Haley is clearly the new DeSantis. She is feted by Never Trump Republicans and establishment conservative media because she is highly critical of Trump, is an ethnic minority woman, and is reliably hawkish on issues of war and peace and the military industrial complex. 

And, fourth, the Seven Dwarfs offer nothing to attract the key 2024 voting bloc of working-class Americans who think Trump was a better president than Biden on the economy, crime, immigration, and foreign wars. They simply will not vote in the general election if their concerns are not reflected in the Republican candidate’s persona and platform.

The reality is Trump’s opponents are not actually running to beat him. The indictments have not torpedoed his candidacy, as their collective Plan A naively forecast, so they know they cannot defeat him in a head-to-head contest. Plan B is to use the campaign, especially the debates, as very public auditions.

Everyone on the debate stage is auditioning for a plum book deal, lucrative corporate speaking invitations, a job in Trump's cabinet (Vivek), or an anti-Trump analyst gig with FOX News or CNN. This explains why they fall over themselves fighting for the minority of Republican primary voters who want someone other than Trump.

Vivek is the only one who understands the electoral arithmetic. The Republican party is dominated by people who admire Trump’s presidency and firmly support his policies. You cannot win votes among these voters by bashing Trump and his record. Vivek may finish in second place precisely because he positions himself as a better version of Trump, not as a destroyer of him.

None of the Seven Dwarfs want to be Trump, which is perfectly fine. But six of them want to tear him down, which is political suicide.