Alton Absher is a partner with the law offices of Kilpatrick, Townsend & Stockton LLP, specializing in patent litigation. For the past year he has done an amazing job serving as President of the Forsyth County Republican Men’s Club.
I didn’t think much of it when, five minutes before kickoff, Bret Baier informed the audience that the moderators were “not going to be schoolmarms” when it came to maintaining order.
Immediately thereafter, our own Kyshia Brassington made North Carolina proud by delivering a heartfelt invocation.
But once the debate kicked off, it was clear that the crowd had taken Bret’s words to heart, and the event at times took on the character of a pro wrestling pay-per-view—with, depending on your perspective, Chris Christie or Vivek Ramaswamy playing the heel.
Speaking of Chris and Vivek, they got the loudest reactions when they were introduced. The audience lustily booed the former New Jersey governor, and showered the young entrepreneur with hoots, hollers, and applause. However, by the end of the night, a portion of the audience had soured on Ramaswamy. He interjected himself into nearly every topic, which became somewhat grating by the second hour (and this is coming from someone who generally agrees with most of what Vivek had to say). In so doing, Ramaswamy opened himself up to withering criticism from Nikki Haley that “you have no foreign policy experience, and it shows.” Ouch.
On the subject of the former SC governor, she had the best performance of the evening. Her answer on abortion was pitch-perfect, and her foreign policy discussion earned Haley the only (partial) standing ovation of the night. Expect her to gain a few points in the next week or so . . . primarily at the expense of her fellow South Carolinian, Senator Tim Scott.
Senator Scott was probably the biggest loser of the night. He was a non-factor, and I don’t expect him to stay in the race much longer. Similarly, Mike Pence gave off major grumpy neighbor vibes, admonishing the young whipper-snapper Vivek Ramaswamy to get off his metaphorical lawn. Pence’s performance was disappointing—a far cry from when he manhandled Tim Kaine in the 2016 VP debate.
And, for the life of me, I have no idea why Asa Hutchinson was there. During the topic of crime, the former Arkansas Governor weakly tried to criticize President Trump for “disrespecting” the officials who are prosecuting him. That was not well-received, to say the least.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis debated the way he has governed: workmanlike, strong, and not flashy. Like many others, I expected DeSantis to take more incoming fire from the others, but that never really materialized. This may or may not be related, but during the first break, Chris Christie walked over to Ron’s podium and they talked for close to a minute. Then during the second break, Christie similarly conversed with Tim Scott.
A few final observations: The debate audience consisted primarily of party officials, donors, and the like—not necessarily a representative sample of the primary electorate. Nonetheless,
President Trump had significant support in the crowd. Most of the attendees with whom I spoke were still on the Trump Train, but were also considering one or more of DeSantis, Ramaswamy, or Haley.