As Republican presidential candidates face off at the GOP's first debate next week, here's a Who's Who of the debate stage

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Eight candidates have qualified, at press time, for the first Republican presidential debate scheduled for next Wednesday, August 23, in Milwaukee. With Donald Trump holding a huge lead over his rivals, is the debate merely an exercise in futility? Or do the candidates have more to gain than they stand to lose just by showing up and competing?

Let’s take a closer look at each one: their backgrounds, their talents, and their chances.

Doug Burgum

CLAIM TO FAME

Governor of North Dakota since 2016, software entrepreneur who sold his business to Microsoft for $1.1 billion, cofounder of a venture capital firm and noted philanthropist.

WHAT’S HIS GAME?

To increase his appeal to rural Americans who represent the backbone of the Republican Party, Doug Burgum — who grew up in a town of 300 people — contends that America needs a president with small-town values and not a city slicker. It’s a good line in sparsely populated Iowa and New Hampshire — the first two states to vote in the 2024 Republican primaries — but it’s a tougher sell in the big states that provide the bulk of the electoral votes needed to win in the general election.

Burgum has mostly confined his talking points to the economy, energy policy, and border security. He has stayed away from culture wars, saying that in North Dakota, woke means getting up at 5 a.m. to get to work. He hasn’t criticized Donald Trump publicly, saying he will leave that to the growing industry of anti-Trump pundits.

BEST-CASE SCENARIO

The state of North Dakota is America’s third-largest crude oil producer with significant reserves of natural gas and coal, which means Burgum could be gunning for a cabinet appointment to head the Department of Energy. Next week’s debate is more likely to turn into his fifteen minutes of fame rather than serve as a launching pad to the White House, and even if he drops out of the race, he can still run in 2024 for a third term as North Dakota’s governor.

Chris Christie

CLAIM TO FAME

Former governor of New Jersey (2010–2018), ex-US attorney for the District of New Jersey with a strong track record of convictions in public corruption cases, and former chairman of the federal Opioid and Drug Abuse Commission.

WHAT’S HIS GAME?

Chris Christie is the ultimate party insider — popular among his political peers as a political brawler, but unsuccessful, to date, on the national stage. In 2016, Christie quit the race for the Republican presidential nomination after winning just 7 percent of the vote in the New Hampshire primary. Christie is again focusing his attention on New Hampshire, hoping that a strong showing will keep his candidacy alive into the later rounds. The Real Clear Politics average poll shows Christie in fourth place in the Granite State, with just 6 percent of the vote.

Christie is never shy when it comes to expressing a strong opinion, and he has reserved most of his ferocity for attacking Trump. With little chance to win, Christie has nothing to lose by taking the lead on warning Republicans against the perils of nominating Trump. And even if Trump wins the nomination, but loses to Biden a second time, Christie will look smart by having said, “I told you so.”

BEST-CASE SCENARIO

Running for president keeps a candidate in the limelight, and even if Christie just sticks to his current role as a sought-after political commentator, he will maintain his relevance. It’s also not far-fetched to view Christie as a possible candidate for US attorney general, provided a Republican not named Trump should happen to win.

Ron DeSantis

CLAIM TO FAME

Governor of Florida since 2019, member of the House of Representatives from 2013 to 2018, and a winner of six different medals for his service in the Navy, Marine Corps, and in the Iraq War.

WHAT’S HIS GAME?

Decades ago, when the Avis car rental agency was America’s second largest to Hertz, Avis crafted the advertising slogan that when you’re number two, you have to try harder. So far, the extra effort hasn’t paid off for DeSantis, who, despite an exhausting campaign schedule, has been drooping in the polls since the day he announced his candidacy. Part of that is due to a brutal press corps that pounces on and magnifies any flaw that they can find.

But DeSantis can be his own worst enemy. For a conservative Republican who won 16 percent of the black vote in liberal Miami-Dade County on the road to a landslide re-election victory, DeSantis committed an unforgivable gaffe when he claimed that slavery provided some benefits to blacks. At his best in one-on-one situations and small gatherings, DeSantis is out of his element when he campaigns as a back-slapper and baby-kisser, which doesn’t suit his very serious persona.

BEST-CASE SCENARIO

If there is anyone who needs to hit the ball out of the park at the debate, it’s Ron DeSantis. To do so, he must avoid being cantankerous when he answers questions. He will have to take advantage of the national exposure to convince voters that he has a strategy and the vision to lead America through very turbulent geopolitical times.

Mike Pence

CLAIM TO FAME

Vice president of the United States under Donald Trump, a six-term member of the House of Representatives from 2002 to 2012, and governor of Indiana from 2013 to 2017.

WHAT’S HIS GAME?

Pence, a seasoned politician, might also be the most dignified among the candidates, which may work to his disadvantage in an era when voters exalt being disruptive and rude. Pence certainly has the most experience of any candidate onstage, but he is a mainstream Republican who derives much of his support from evangelical voters, who are no longer the force they used to be in the Republican Party.

Trump voters will never forgive Pence for not utilizing the power that he really didn’t have to try to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Pence will only irk Republicans more when he serves as a leading prosecution witness in the federal case against Trump for the January 6 Capitol riots — or insurrection, if you prefer.

BEST-CASE SCENARIO

Pence has zero interest in becoming vice president again, and would probably find a cabinet post to be very boring and unsatisfying. Pence would make an excellent ambassador to a foreign country if he so desires, but like Chris Christie, his raison d’être in this campaign is to persuade Republicans that they need to move on from Trump.

Nikki Haley

CLAIM TO FAME

A staunch supporter of Israel during her stint as UN Ambassador in 2017 and 2018, a governor of South Carolina from 2011 to 2017, and now head of a policy group called Stand for America. Haley is the only female candidate in the race.

WHAT’S HER GAME?

Nikki Haley was the first candidate to announce her run for the Republican nomination, which is a badge of political courage. Haley is also one of the better-qualified candidates who will appear onstage, with executive experience as a governor and diplomatic experience at the UN. We were told that Haley possesses the people skills needed to excel at “retail politics” in the small towns of Iowa and New Hampshire, yet we see scant evidence of that in the polls, which show her scoring in the low single digits.

A few months ago, Rich Lowry, editor-in-chief of the National Review, condensed Haley’s flaws succinctly. He suggested there are two paths to win a party’s nomination: to be an establishment front-runner, like George W. Bush or Hillary Clinton; or to have a brash, outsized personality, like Barack Obama and Donald Trump. And despite her competence, Haley has neither.

Her ongoing bashing of Vice President Kamala Harris is also not winning her many points. No Republican needs to be convinced that Harris is a political lightweight. They want to know that the person they select for president is a political heavyweight with solutions to what ails America.

BEST-CASE SCENARIO

Haley has a lot of poise, and there’s every reason to believe she will make a strong showing at the debate. Some pundits contend that Haley will use the debate format as her audition to become the Republican’s vice presidential nominee, while others suggest that she would make an excellent secretary of state in a Republican administration.

Vivek Ramaswamy

CLAIM TO FAME

Former investment manager at a hedge fund and founder of a biotech company, best-selling author of books against the woke movement and identity politics, and holder of a Yale University law degree.

WHAT’S HIS GAME?

Ramaswamy is probably the most intriguing and unconventional candidate in the race. If someone named Barack Hussein Obama could become president, then there is no reason Ramaswamy can’t. At a recent town hall event in Concord, New Hampshire, a confident Ramaswamy took questions from the audience, while standing in the middle of two large placards, emblazoned with the catchphrases “G-d is Real” and “Reverse Racism is Racism.”

At the same event, Ramaswamy raised some concern in pro-Israel circles when he suggested that expanding the Abraham Accords could give the US an opportunity to reduce military aid to Israel. It’s a bit naïve to assume that if more Muslim nations normalize ties with Israel that Israel’s security threats will shrink. In addition, the so-called US military aid is really a subsidy to US military contractors to ensure that Israel buys weaponry and spare parts from them, and not foreign competitors.

BEST-CASE SCENARIO

While Ramaswamy has been mentioned as a possible vice president on a Trump ticket, it’s hard to believe that he’s interested, or that Trump would pick a running mate with more letters in his last name than he has, which would end up dominating a bumper sticker. Ramaswamy, however, has been bitten by the political bug and has said clearly that 2024 is just a starting point for him.

Tim Scott

CLAIM TO FAME

Two-term senator from South Carolina (since 2013), a member of the US House of Representatives from 2011 to 2013. As a freshman member of the city council in Charleston, South Carolina, Scott supported posting a copy of the Ten Commandments outside the council chambers.

WHAT’S HIS GAME?

Senator Scott has gained the most from the vulnerability of Ron DeSantis. As DeSantis began plunging in the polls, Scott garnered more attention, from both donors and potential voters. The National Review described Scott as a throwback to the old-fashioned politician, with the “demeanor of the happy warrior, secure in his views and values, armed with facts and evidence in their support, adamant in his advocacy, but by no means caustic or condescending.”

While Scott has also veered far from criticizing Donald Trump, it will be interesting to see if, as an African American, he pushes back against DeSantis’s claim that slavery provided some benefits to blacks. In his own polite way, Scott too is a cultural warrior, and says we must win the battle against cultural grievance by disproving the lies of the radical left.

BEST-CASE SCENARIO

Nothing is impossible, and if Trump should falter and DeSantis continues to implode, then Scott has an outside chance of building momentum and becoming a serious candidate. And if not, he would certainly make an excellent vice presidential running mate who could woo minority voters to the Republican ticket.

Donald Trump

CLAIM TO FAME

Former president of the United States who moved the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem and recognized Israel’s claim to the Golan Heights; real estate developer, casino developer, and reality show star; and now under multiple indictments in several states and jurisdictions.

WHAT’S HIS GAME?

As of press time, Trump had yet to announce whether he would attend the debate, or if he would rather let them duke it out for second place while he basks in the aura of a 40-point lead in the polls over his closest rivals. Skipping the debate would also spare Trump from having to answer embarrassing questions about the multiple indictments he is facing, or how he expects to run an effective campaign when he will be spending most of 2024 in court. If he does decide to show up, it would certainly liven up the debate and would boost Fox News ratings in a year when they have lost viewers, not to mention a good bit of their credibility.

BEST-CASE SCENARIO

For Trump, the win-win scenario is that he stays away and none of the candidates distinguish themselves. He can sit on the sidelines and tweet away while they vie for publicity, and the next day, the media will be talking more about what Trump wrote than about anything any of his rivals said.

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 974)