Welcome to a special edition of Fox News’ politics newsletter, where we talk about the second GOP presidential primary debate.
REMINDER: The next Republican presidential primary debate takes place tonight at 9pm ET. Sign up now to stream.
The Air Force One Pavilion at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum will host the FOX Business Republican primary debate on Sept.27, 2023. ( Steve Whitaker Photography.)
SHOWDOWN AT REAGAN LIBRARY: Seven presidential hopefuls will take the stage Wednesday night at the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. Follow along with Fox News’ live updates blog all day today for the latest debate news.
PROVING GROUND: What do candidates need to do to stand out from the crowd? Longtime Republican strategists David Kochel and Dave Carney give their thoughts and predictions:
- Ron DeSantis “needs to broaden the appeal… [and] draw a distinction between himself and Trump.”
- Nikki Haley may take verbal attacks from others on the stage. She got a spike after the first debate, but “what do you do with that momentum? Is it a flash in the pan or can you repeat that performance and have an upward trajectory in the race?” Kochel said.
- There’s “going to be a lot of pressure on someone like Tim Scott, who disappeared a bit in the first debate, to step up and do better.”
- Mike Pence: “if I were him, I would be touting myself as the Reagan conservative in the traditional sense and take off after populism,” Kochel said.
- Vivek Ramaswamy was a punching bag in the first debate, but now he has to prove that he’s presidential — and that no one else attempts to take the Trump heir-apparent track, Carney said.
- Chris Christie wanted to debate Trump — but Trump won’t be there. “My guess is he’ll probably throw more haymakers at Ramaswamy because he’s [the] most Trump-like person on the stage,” Kochel said.
- Doug Burgum, the least well-known candidate on the stage and the last to qualify for the second debate, has to find a way to stand out, said Carney.
SIDELINED: Asa Hutchinson is the only candidate from the first debate who failed to qualify for the second contest. But he’s pushing forward with his campaign.
“I understand that the [Republican National Committee] and the media are trying to reduce the number of candidates, but I measure success based on the response I receive in early primary states like Iowa and New Hampshire,” Hutchinson wrote this week in a statement on X, formerly Twitter.
Fox News’ Dana Perino, FOX Business’ Stuart Varney, and UNIVISION’s Ilia Calderón (Getty Images)
MEET THE MODERATORS: Fox News’ Dana Perino, FOX Business’ Stuart Varney, and UNIVISION’s Ilia Calderón will moderate Wednesday’s GOP debate. Perino and Varney discussed their debate prep on Fox News this week …Read more
ANTHEM PREVIEW: By day, Mary Millben was a staffer in George W. Bush’s White House, but at night she would sing – at Christmas parties and White House events. Tonight, she’ll open the debate by singing the national anthem minutes before the debate kicks off.
