Right.
Well,
tonight seven Republican presidential candidates will take the
stage at the party's second presidential primary debate.
And tonight's event at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley
California is another key step on the path to the 2024 presidential election
here to help us break down what to expect is columnist and political analyst,
Jonathan Harris.
Jonathan, thank you for joining us this morning.
Let's start by addressing who will not be at this debate for a second time.
Two for two, that's
runner and former President
Donald Trump. Why is that?
Well, you know, according to polling, he doesn't need to be there.
But I also think it's kind of another one of those examples of,
you know,
him kind of breaking precedent and kind of being more
of a bull in a China shop kind of vibe.
And that I think is what his voters seem to like about him is that kind of,
you know, breaking precedent approach, approach to politics.
It's shocking because there's, you know,
not too long ago,
that would have been disqualifying to say that you're
not even going to show up at the debate.
It would be seen as, you know, disrespectful and disregarding to
the voters who want to hear,
not only what your views are but how they stack up against the competition,
but as of right now, he's able to get away with not doing it.
So I think he, and plus we know, I mean, he did this with, when he was debating.
Now, President Biden, he didn't show up to that follow up debate either.
I think he's made it very clear.
I think it was an interview he did on X with former Fox host Stucker Carlson.
And he doesn't want to, you know, have people taking shots at him because
at the moment, he doesn't have to have to deal with that. So he doesn't want to
have those shots taken at him.
So kind of a bold, a bold position, but it's working out for him right now.
Jonathan,
former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson did not qualify for this debate.
How does this affect his campaign moving forward?
I
think when you,
when you get to the point where you're not qualifying for the debates, I mean,
the standards are pretty,
I don't want to say low, but I mean, pretty inclusive.
And if you're not able to qualify for the debate,
it's kind of a signal that your campaign might be running out of steam.
So, I mean, there are a lot of options up there and I think it's just kind of a reality,
a lot of those candidates are going to be facing as we
head closer to the election in 2024 in the nomination process.
And he's just, unfortunately for the first to have to drop out since the last debate,
we did want to discuss a new poll from New Hampshire.
It puts Nikki Haley in second place right behind Donald Trump.
Does this put extra pressure on her specifically tonight?
Well, she was actually a standout in the prior debate.
So I think there are going to be a lot of eyes on her.
I would say there will be a lot of eyes on her and Ron
desantis
and Vivek Rahma saw me all for different reasons.
I think for her,
it's to see if she can maintain her momentum that she had coming out of that debate
and have another strong showing.
I think she really cast a pretty stark contrast with herself
versus the other people that she was on a stage with.
And if she can do that again tonight,
I think she's going to be able to maintain that momentum.
I think for Ronda Santi, it's going to be, you know,
wondering if he can gain momentum for his campaign.
But I think if she can have another strong showing like she did last time,
that's what people are going to be looking for.
Let's talk about another standout. You mentioned it. Jonathan
Ramaswami. He did have an impact in the first debate.
How do you see him having an impact tonight.
You know, I said the last time when we spoke, he has a,
he has a kind of Trump light approach and I think he
enjoys also that bull in a China shop approach to politics.
But I don't know that it's working out for him in the polling.
That's kind of the thing.
I think he's, you know, the footage you're seeing now is when he was, you know,
rapping Eminem and I was later asked to, you know, by the artist not to use his music.
And
I don't know that the headlines that he's making are necessary helping him.
But I think that's probably what's going to happen more in this debate that,
you know, just trying to get a sound bite in and kind of, you know,
buck against tradition and see if that throwing anything
against the wall mentality will work for him.
It's like Trump is not going to be on the debate,
but Trump light will be in the form of Vivek, Ramaz,
Ron
desantis does remain quite a ways away from Donald Trump and the polls behind him.
That is what does
DeSantis need to do to try to gain some momentum tonight.
You know, there was some new polling from CBS out of New Hampshire and Iowa.
And one of the things I was really taken with was Trump
has about 50% of the vote and most people are like,
oh, you know, wow.
That's really glaring, you know, so on and so forth, you know,
that kind of seals the deal.
But what I took away from that was that means that the other
50% of Republican voters do not want him to get the nomination.
And so what's really happening
is it's a question of who else they want
to get the nomination, but they all don't want him to have it.
Former president Trump. So I think with Ron desantis,
it's going to be a matter of,
you know,
really trying to hold out essentially and get as much of
that remaining 50% that seems to be up for grabs and,
you know, not having some of those embarrassing campaign
moments with the awkward laughing that he had at the
last debate and some of some of those other things and
if he can hold out for that other 50% I think
that's really going to be what his campaign is about.
Jonathan, you'll be watching, we'll be watching. That's Jonathan Harris.
Thank you.
Jonathan is going to join us again tomorrow
morning to talk about tonight's big moment.