OPINION:
The Republican candidates for president, sans one, have now met on the debate stage. It was an enjoyable and, at points, raucous debate.
A CBS News poll that came out in mid-August found that 9 out of 10 Republican primary voters wanted the candidates to make the case for themselves rather than against former President Donald Trump. With Mr. Trump absent from the stage, they had their opportunity.
Gov. Nikki Haley schooled the bickering men on the stage on more than one occasion and spoke forcefully about policy. As the stage devolved into barbs and badmouthing, Gov. Ron DeSantis missed repeated opportunities to sound presidential by trying to bring the conversation back to order, often appearing lost in the fray.
Sen. Tim Scott, the genial South Carolinian, appeared uncomfortable with all the bombast, sidelined by the freewheeling nature of the event.
Sure, there were some good one-liners and a few good, if not obvious, ideas. But nearly all candidates missed the opportunity to make the point that this campaign isn’t about Joe Biden.
President Biden is increasingly an avatar used temporarily to advance a broader, bolder strategy.
After his horrifically insensitive and nonsensical response to the Maui wildfire tragedy, it is more apparent than ever that Mr. Biden is one fall or mental lapse away from not even being the Democratic Party nominee.
Still, Mr. Biden was mentioned nearly 50 times when the candidates weren’t haranguing each other about this or that.
The true nature of the fight in 2024 isn’t about Mr. Biden’s record. It’s about the erosion of our basic freedoms by the radical left that controls Mr. Biden and his party. From speech codes and trans-cultism to a weaponized deep state that touches every aspect of American life, the threats to our Republic go far beyond Biden’s failing cognitive abilities, border invasion and inflation debacle.
While Mr. Ramaswamy came off as insolent, he scored points for mentioning the so-called “fourth branch of government.” Unaccountable, militant bureaucracy that takes more of our money and spends it on an agenda that is its own – not ours - is the vehicle by which the left advances its goals.
Presidential campaigns used to be about two people, how they contrast and whether we could envision them serving as global representative of American ideals. They used to be about two people making an emotional connection with the population.
Not anymore. Democrats desperately want this campaign to be about Messrs. Trump and Biden because of the likability of the former and to avoid talking about the agenda parroted by the latter. Republicans shouldn’t play into the Democrats’ hands. They must avoid portraying the ills of the country as wrapped up in Joe Biden packaging.
Republicans running for president need to start talking about the deeper, larger threats that we face and how to solve them. It’s simply not enough to do, as Mr. Ron DeSantis did, say the “nation is in decline” and blame Mr. Biden’s policies.
In the final question, candidates were asked how they would restore the perception that America was the “shining city on a hill.” None quite hammered home that President Ronald Reagan warned from the 1960s through his farewell address in 1989 about domestic threats to freedom from socialists, communists and those who would upend our basic values.
As for Mr. Trump, he’s again focusing on revving up his base of support. But so far, he’s not expanded his voter appeal. He, too, is spending too much time blaming the state of the nation on Mr. Biden and slamming the politicized prosecutions that are dogging him and hitting his successor over increasingly evident corruption.
Waiting for the other guy to self-destruct isn’t a strategy to win a primary, much less set yourself up for success in the general election. Republican candidates have a limited chance to craft a powerful message that personalizes for Americans the threat not Mr. Biden poses but the morally and ethically depraved forces that are attacking the Judeo-Christian foundations of American freedom to supplant it with collectivism.
Candidates on the stage have to make the case they can win in November, no matter who the Democrat nominee will be, and they need to demonstrate that they understand how the present threats impact real people. Do that, and you’re in the game. Don’t, and the primary is pointless political theater.
• Tom Basile is the host of “America Right Now” on Newsmax and the author of “Tough Sell: Fighting the Media War in Iraq.” He served as an adviser to the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq from 2003 to 2004.
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