Who are the candidates, what to watch for in the first 2023 GOP presidential debate in Milwaukee

Scott Walker's advice for the candidates taking the stage at Wednesday's Republican presidential primary debate is short and sweet.

Be bold.

"It's not enough to just have a good performance," Walker said. "You have to make a strong case and capture the attention of the voters or they're going to move on."

More: Republican presidential primary debate live updates: Conservative groups hold advocacy training at Pfister

Walker's guidance comes from hard experience. During his brief presidential run in 2015, the ex-Wisconsin governor faded into the background at the early debates.

"No matter what your record is, it's not enough to get you elected," Walker said. "It just got you on the stage. Don't waste too much of your time by talking about what you have done. Spend time about talking what you will do."

More: Voters want to hear other candidates at the Republican debate in Milwaukee. But Trump looms large.

The stage is big. And it needs to accommodate the candidates courting voters in what is the biggest event, so far, of the 2024 election cycle.

Former President Donald Trump, the frontrunner who faces four criminal cases, is skipping the event.

The debate will begin at 8 p.m. and wrap up around 10 p.m. in Fiserv Forum and will be broadcast on the Fox News Channel. Martha MacCallum and Bret Baier are moderators.

Here's who made the stage:

Ron DeSantis

The Florida governor is running second in most national polls and was billed early on as an alternative to Trump. He's campaigned on running the country like he runs Florida, but his campaign has stumbled in recent weeks. DeSantis is still trying to find his reset.

Vivek Ramaswamy

Ramaswamy, a biotech entrepreneur, is a newcomer to national politics. The 37-year-old has been vocal about pushing back on environmental, social and corporate governance policies. He is campaigning, in part, on fighting the so-called "woke" agenda.

Nikki Haley

Haley is running on her experience as a former South Carolina governor and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. She was the first Republican to jump into the race against Trump but has so far failed to gain enough traction to put her among the top GOP contenders. She's called for a new generation of leadership.

Tim Scott

South Carolina U.S. Sen. Tim Scott has leaned on his Christian faith and blended his background into his campaign. He is the only Black Republican in the Senate. In his campaign announcement, Scott said: "I know American is a land of opportunity, not a land of oppression."

Chris Christie

While he supported Trump in 2016 and 2020, the former governor of New Jersey has centered his campaign on his opposition to the former president following Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election. He's accused Trump of being afraid to debate and hasn't tried to hide the fact that Trump is his No. 1 target. He told the Journal Sentinel recently: "I'm running the campaign in the way where I'm trying to win. And it's to beat him."

Mike Pence

Pence is running the campaign having been vice president under Trump while also attempting to distance himself from his former boss. He has pushed back on the criminal indictments against Trump while at the same time touting his own actions rejecting Trump's efforts to overturn the election.

Asa Hutchinson

Hutchinson left his post as governor of Arkansas at the beginning this year due to term limits and jumped into the presidential contest as another voice against the former president. He has indicated he will go after Trump on the debate stage and is one of the few Republican candidates not to dismiss Trump's criminal indictments, calling recent charges connected to Trump's effort to overturn the election "serious."

Doug Burgum

The North Dakota governor has perhaps the lowest name recognition out of the eight candidates who will be on stage Wednesday night. Burgum told the Journal Sentinel recently: "I think our strategy has been pretty consistent, which is we just have to tell our story of how we believe that a Burgum presidency would be great for everybody in America."

The biggest challenge? The man not on the stage.

The candidates face multiple challenges, perhaps the biggest being they may be overshadowed by the person who isn't there., ex-president Trump.

Walker said it's a mistake for candidates to attack Trump, who faces four criminal cases. But that's what two of the contenders would appear to have in mind — Christie and Hutchinson.

"I just think nobody is going to change the mind of a voter about Trump except Trump," Walker said. "So anyone out there attacking him isn't helping himself."

More: Do other Republicans have any chance against Trump? Here's what early polls can tell us.

Just being heard could be a problem for some of the candidates in a debate that will run some 100 minutes. There are no opening statements. Each candidate will get 45 seconds for a closing statement. There'll be 60 seconds for answers to questions and 30 seconds for rebuttals.

Of course, each candidate is hoping to make his own mark and have at least one defining moment to set himself apart from the others. Trump's absence from the stage could give others a chance to show they are best positioned to lead the party.

"If you can’t use Trump’s absence to your advantage, why are you in this race?" said Kevin Madden, a political strategist who served on Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign. “The question is: Because he didn’t show up, how do you use that to your advantage? And I think everybody has to answer that in the affirmative.”

A test for DeSantis

The candidate likely to be on the hot seat is DeSantis, who is running second to Trump in most national polls. DeSantis has had a rocky rollout plagued by staffing cuts and leadership changes. It didn't help matters when debate advice from the main Super PAC supporting him was picked up by the media — and his opponents.

"He’s sort of out of resets, and this is probably one of his last chances to prove that all of the buzz and curiosity that many voters had early on was worthwhile," said Madden, who noted that the other candidates will likely train their fire at the Florida governor polling second behind Trump.

“Right now, his campaign is trending in the wrong direction," Madden said. "The best way to change the trend line on the direction and start to turn people into converts is to have a really good debate and fend off all the attacks, show he’s got poise under pressure and then has the clearest, most persuadable message for why he, more than anybody else on that stage and then the one person not on that stage, can lead the party and lead the country into the future.”

For Walker, that means DeSantis should get off defense and go on offense. That doesn't mean attack the other candidates. But it does mean rolling out some big ideas.

"Everybody else wants to be viewed as the main alternative," Walker said. "This is going to have to be a command performance."

Others to watch

But anything is possible on the crowded stage.

Ramaswamy, the biotech entrepreneur, has been rising in the polls. His animated style and comfort on television could translate well into the debate. "Ultimately these debates, because they are television performances, they could suit him very well in that regard," Madden said.

And Scott, the South Carolina senator, will likely try to consolidate the non-Trump Republicans under his own campaign through a breakout moment.

People view Haley, the former South Carolina governor, as smart and effective, Walker said. Recalling 2015, he said Haley, like others, will have to make points succinctly.

"I've said everybody came out of that first debate knowing Donald Trump was going to build the wall and drain the swamp," Walker said. "There were a few key things he knew and if you are not coming out of the first or second debate with the voters able to rattle off here is candidate x and here are the two or three things I like about them in policy, they're toast."

Madden put it this way: "This is the chance to make (your) case directly to the voters. If you don’t do that, you’re just running for second place."

What role will Milwaukee play in the debate?

Republicans have brought the opening debate and next year's convention to Milwaukee for a reason: they're trying to reclaim Wisconsin and win back the White House.

It will be intriguing if any of the candidates reference the city and state in their comments, especially on policy issues.

The look of Fiserv Forum will also be important as Fox News transforms the big sports arena into a debate hall with several thousand people in attendance.

"I'm interested to see how they set the place," said Kathleen Dolan, political science professor at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. "They'll have to work to make some atmosphere. I'm interested to see what it looks like, what the audience is like, and also the protests outside, whether they're robust or not."

She added: "The event itself from the perspective of living here will give us the tiniest taste of next summer."

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Who are candidates, what to watch for in 2023 GOP debate in Milwaukee