GOP Debate Grades – How did your favorite candidate do?

The first GOP debate included policy, some heated moments, and a whole lot of attacks on Joe Biden and the Democrats. One thing was missing, Donald Trump. He likely made the right decision not to attend because no candidate tonight stood out from the crowd.

THE GRADES

Ron DeSantis B: Fantastic opening statement. He focused on going after Joe Biden and flexing his record. At times he did sound programmed. He also did not receive many attacks from the others in the field, which was unexpected. Candidates look better when they fend off others. See Trump 2016.

Vivek Ramaswamy B: He was the clear winner in the first half of the debate, but the attacks came from all angles for his views particularly on Ukraine in the second half and was not as effective at fending them off. Other than that, he had the most diverse agenda out of everyone on the stage.

Mike Pence C+: Expected more from the former Vice President. He has held the highest office out of everyone on the stage and it didn’t seem that way. However, he was the most unapologetically pro life candidate on the stage which showed consistency in his views.

Tim Scott C+: Didn’t stand out in any way, but did have a good closing statement. He would make a good VP.

Nikki Haley B+: She showed a lot of grit and arguable made the biggest splash on the night. While many on the right may disagree with her compromising views on abortion and continuing to fund Ukraine, she was persuasive in her positions.

Chris Christie C: Hyped himself up for his debating skills, but failed to live up to it. He did have a decent one liner on Vivek saying he sounded like ChatGPT.

Doug Burgam D: Low energy, probably made it tough to tear your achilles prior to the debate.

Asa Hutchinson F: YAWN.