Bice: Winners and losers from the Republican presidential debate in Milwaukee

It's not that it was a bad debate.

In fact, some of the back-and-forth among the candidates Wednesday night at the first Republican primary debate illuminated some important policy differences, especially on the issues of abortion and spending on the Ukraine war.

It's just that's it's not going to be particularly memorable.

That's not through any fault of the eight candidates on stage. None of them really stumbled during the two-hour event, and there were several entertaining exchanges.

But the fact is, the GOP field is being left in the dust by former President Donald Trump, who didn't even show up for the debate.

That point was driven home by Fox News moderator Martha MacCallum when she pointed out to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis at one point in the second half of the debate that he is losing to Trump by 30 or 40 percentage points in the polling.

And DeSantis is currently in second place. Most of others are registering in single digits and have yet to raise $10 million. Despite Trump's indictments in four different cases, you get the sense that it might take a miracle for any of these eight to appear on the presidential ballot next November.

So, in the end, Fox News needed Trump much more than Trump needed Fox News on this night — no matter what silliness he and Fox alum Tucker Carlson engaged in on X, formerly known as Twitter.

No wonder Fox News moderator Bret Baier called Trump at least four times begging him to change his mind and join the debate in Milwaukee on Wednesday. But it wasn't going to happen.

Without Trump, the debate was reminiscent of the time actor Clint Eastwood debated an empty chair, a stand-in for then-President Barack Obama, before a national TV audience during the 2012 Republican National Convention.

Only this time it was eight candidates and two moderators hovering around one enormous and vacant chair. And if Donald Trump Jr. is correct, don't expect his father to show up at the next debate either.

"Why would you?" he told the Journal Sentinel.

Here are your other winners and losers from the Wednesday debate.

Winner: Vivek Ramaswamy

If any publicity is good publicity, the biotech entrepreneur was the big winner of the evening.

It was only minutes into the debate that the attacks on Ramaswamy started coming, and they continued to rain down on him for much of the night — much as you might expect of a front-runner, not a guy in third place. But, for the most part, the first-time politician gave as good as he got — and always with a grin on his face.

First, former Vice President Mike Pence described the 38-year-old as a "rookie" and the next president should not need "on-the-job training."

Then it was former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's turn.

"I've had enough already tonight of a guy who sounds like ChatGPT standing up here," Christie said. "The last person in one of these debates … who stood in the middle of the stage and said, 'What is a skinny guy with an odd last name doing up here?' was Barack Obama. And I'm afraid we are dealing with the same type of amateur on the stage tonight."

Ramaswamy fired back that Christie should "give me a hug just like you do Obama and elect me just like you did Obama, too." The first was a reference to Christie's embrace of the former Democratic president on a New Jersey beach in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy.

Finally, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley took a swing at Ramaswamy for his comments on supporting Ukraine, Taiwan and Israel.

"You have no foreign policy experience, and it shows," Haley stated.

Ramaswamy, who expressed isolationist leanings all night, snapped back at his critic, saying, "I wish you well on your future career on the boards of (defense contractors) Lockheed and Raytheon."

And the audience at Fiserv Forum loved it, just as they did with almost everything he said. The exception: he heard some boos when he said he was the only candidate who was "not bought and paid for" and that the climate change agenda is a "hoax."

Loser: Ron DeSantis

Leading up to the debate, DeSantis raised money off the belief that he would be the center of attention and the butt of others' criticism.

But something much worse happened to the second-term Republican governor.

He was ignored by his GOP foes.

For the most part, DeSantis did his schtick — running through his accomplishments in the Sunshine State, expressing his favorite anti-woke lines and raising concerns about immigration. Most of it prompted not a peep from the seven others on stage.

His team spun this afterward by saying DeSantis "didn't get caught up in the infighting."

But you have to wonder if something else is going on. Does the rest of the Republican field believe DeSantis, who has stumbled on the trail and shaken up his campaign staff, has already peaked and is no longer a threat?

Winner: Mike Pence

Let's get this straight: The former Indiana governor is not going to be the Republican nominee. Too many in the MAGA crowd detest the guy.

But this was Pence's moment, perhaps the high point for his campaign. He got to discuss his evangelical Christian convictions in detail, offer a stern defense of his views opposing abortion rights and defend American support for Ukraine, which he visited a month ago.

More important than all that, he got his Republican opponents to voice their support for his decision to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election over the harsh criticism of Trump, his boss at the time.

Asked if Pence did the right thing on Jan. 6, 2021, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott said, "Absolutely."

"Mike Pence stood for the Constitution," Christie said.

Only DeSantis seemed reluctant to agree, saying the race is "not about Jan. 6, 2021 — it's about Jan. 20, 2025, when the president is going to take office." But he then relented, "Mike did his duty. I got no beef with him."

Pence held onto the moment as long as he could.

"The American people deserve to know that the president asked me in his request that I reject or return votes," he said. "He asked me to put him over the Constitution, and I chose the Constitution."

You just have to wonder how this moment of unity would have gone down if Trump had decided to attend. It would have made for some good viewing.

Instead, Trump had to depend on fanboy Ramaswamy to stand up for him, saying he would pardon Trump if elected and declaring Trump "the best president of the 21st Century." Trump later declared Ramaswamy the winner of the debate.

How was that for a televised audition to be Trump's 2024 running mate now that Pence is not an option?

Loser: Chris Christie

He was the least popular guy in the room at Fiserv Forum.

Audience members jeered Christie from the moment he was introduced. He also was greeted with a chorus of boos each time he attacked Ramaswamy and Trump. In 2016, Christie was a strong supporter of Trump but recently called the former president a "coward" for skipping the debate.

"Here is the bottom line: Someone's got to stop normalizing this conduct," he said when asked about the former president's criminal cases. "Whether or not you believe the criminal charges are right or wrong, the conduct is beneath the office of president of the United States."

The former prosecutor's remarks prompted further jeering from the right-leaning audience, prompting him to address the crowd directly.

"This is the great thing about this country," Christie said. "Booing is allowed, but it doesn't change the truth."

Ramaswamy earlier suggested Christie was using his presidential bid to vie for spot on liberal-leaning MSNBC. He didn't let this go without piling on top:

"Honest to God, your claim that Donald Trump is motivated by vengeance and grievance would be a lot more credible if your entire campaign were not based on vengeance and grievance against (Trump)," Ramaswamy said.

Look for more of this in future GOP presidential debates.

More winners and losers in the Milwaukee debate

Winner: Milwaukee — Unlike the Democratic National Convention in 2020, this national event actually ended up taking place in Brew Town, despite the 100-degree temperatures. Let's hope this bodes well for next year's Republican National Convention.

Loser: Tim Scott — The South Carolina senator was at the debate, right? That's what all the stories say, but he seemed to disappear for long stretches. When he was on screen, Scott seemed the most congenial of the lot, but maybe debates aren't for nice guys.

Winner: Oliver Anthony — Who expected the debate to begin with cut of Anthony's breakout hit, "Rich Men North of Richmond," and two followup questions? Yeah, not on my bingo card.

Loser: North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum — To make it to the debate stage, Burgum gave $20 gift cards to donors and survived tearing his Achilles tendon in a pickup basketball game, ending up in the emergency room at Aurora Sinai Medical Center this week. What did he get for his troubles? To tell one joke about people encouraging him to "break a leg" in Milwaukee. Still, he did outlast all of his opponents in the spin room, chatting up anyone who would listen till nearly midnight.

Winner: President Joe Biden — If you were expecting relentless attacks on the Democratic president, you came to the wrong debate. The eight Republicans spent more time going after Bidenomics — and each other — than Biden himself. Even a question about mental acuity tests for aging presidents didn't do the trick.

Loser: Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson — If you get this far in the column without a mention, it wasn't a good night for you. The 72-year-old politician got more attention on social media for his red eyes than his sharp attacks on Trump. Maybe a little Visine will do the trick if Hutchinson is still around for the next debate.

Contact Daniel Bice at (414) 313-6684 or dbice@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter @DanielBice or on Facebook at fb.me/daniel.bice.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: The winners and losers from the Republican presidential debate