Who Won the Debate? Haley Struggled to Outshine DeSantis, Analysts Say

The fifth Republican presidential debate featured just two candidates and grew testy. But analysts saw little that would change the race ahead of Monday’s caucuses.

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Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley onstage at the Republican presidential primary debate hosted by CNN at Drake University in Des Moines.

With the Iowa caucuses days away, two of the remaining Republican presidential candidates — Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley — clashed on the debate stage on Wednesday night over the economy, foreign policy and their records in their states, Florida and South Carolina.

The fifth debate this primary season once again was notable for the absence of former President Donald J. Trump, the Republican front-runner who opted instead to hold a town hall event sponsored by Fox News at the same time his rivals were facing off. It also featured a shrinking field, as Chris Christie had announced hours before the debate that he was dropping out of the race. That put added pressure on Ms. Haley to deliver a strong performance to solidify her position as Mr. Trump’s primary alternative, while Mr. DeSantis needed to jolt his sputtering campaign to maintain a foothold in the race.

Political analysts and pundits observed that the Mr. Trump continued to benefit from staying away from direct engagement with his Republican rivals, with some suggesting that he had delivered a surprisingly “cogent” performance at his event across town, while the tenor of the conversation between Mr. DeSantis and Ms. Haley often grew caustic and personal as they tiptoed around questions about Mr. Trump’s character. While Ms. Haley avoided any notable stumbles, few thought that she had managed to get the better of Mr. DeSantis.

Here’s a sampling of the reaction.

“Trump decision not to indulge and validate the debate exercise was a shrewd move in its own right, but leaving them to tear each other apart is a nice fringe benefit,” said Liam Donovan, a former member of the staff of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. “The little lines and digs might please their backers but it’s really tough to imagine any of this appealing to folks looking to make a decision.”

“If DeSantis had been this good in the first primary debates, he’d be in a much stronger position today,” said Frank Luntz, a focus group moderator, pollster and communications strategist who worked for Republican candidates. “I’ve been critical of him, but he’s on fire tonight.”

“In terms of what the stakes were tonight with Haley and DeSantis debating, I felt like just stylistically that Ron DeSantis has become a better debater,” said Rachel Maddow, the MSNBC host. “He has gone from first gear to grinding toward second gear. Nikki Haley, I think, has stayed exactly the way she was.”

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