Winners, losers in the first GOP presidential debate

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Winners:

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. He was direct, confident and got his messages across clearly while fending off attacks and criticizing frontrunner Donald Trump on his handling of the Covid pandemic. He probably solidified his second-place status and won over some voters.

Businessman Vivek Ramaswamy. Sure, he suffered taunts of “rookie” and “amateur” from more experienced rivals. But he gave better than he got, and managed to keep the camera on himself for a healthy amount of time. For a relatively unknown novice, he didn’t hurt his cause and raised his profile.

Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley. The only woman on the stage spoke out with some unpopular messages for her party, saying Republicans in Washington are just as guilty as Democrats of overspending, and saying the GOP needs to ditch former President Donald Trump. “Trump is the most disliked politician in America. We can’t win an election that way,” she said.

Country folk singer Oliver Anthony. His song “Rich Men North of Richmond” got big exposure at the top of the debate and prompted a discussion of the failings of the Biden Administration and Washington.

Losers:

Trump. A no-show, Trump didn’t dominate the discussion as much as he seemed to think he would. His absence conveyed that he couldn’t be bothered to mix it up with his rivals on issues important to voters. And his stolen election claims from 2020 were a loser on the debate stage, too.

Sen. Tim Scott. Possibly the most earnest and thoughtful candidate, Mr. Scott struggled to get in much air time against his much more aggressive rivals. He seemed to disappear as the debate wore on.

North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum. Also struggled to get airtime. Having suffered a pre-debate injury in a game of pickup basketball, he didn’t hit his stride until nearly the 90th minute, when he spoke about the scourge of fentanyl in his state.

President Biden. While the GOP candidates disagreed on a lot, they were united in presenting a realistic case for why Biden needs to go — including inflation, out-of-control spending, politicized law enforcement and, as DeSantis said, an era of “American decline.”