{"id":597337,"date":"2023-11-11T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-11-11T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/declining-gop-debate-ratings-wont-help-candidates-catch-trump\/"},"modified":"2023-11-11T14:00:00","modified_gmt":"2023-11-11T11:00:00","slug":"declining-gop-debate-ratings-wont-help-candidates-catch-trump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/declining-gop-debate-ratings-wont-help-candidates-catch-trump\/","title":{"rendered":"#Declining GOP debate ratings won\u2019t help candidates catch Trump"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/11\/fewer_gans_111123_GettyImages.jpg?w=900\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Fewer and fewer people are watching the GOP\u2019s presidential debates, raising sharp<s>er<\/s>\u00a0questions about their relevance in a cycle where the party\u2019s front-runner, former President Donald Trump, is skipping them.<\/p>\n<p>Fewer than 7 million people\u00a0tuned in for this week\u2019s debate, where Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis both got solid reviews for their performances.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr1_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>But with a\u00a0dwindling\u00a0audience and time running out before the Iowa caucuses,\u00a0Trump\u2019s competitors\u00a0face questions about whether they have a realistic path to the GOP presidential nomination.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI feel like we\u2019re\u00a0living in \u2018The Twilight Zone\u2019 watching this because none of these people are going to be the Republican nominee with Donald Trump at 30 points ahead,\u201d said Republican strategist Ron Bonjean.<\/p>\n<p>Pressure has been mounting for months for the other Republican candidates to gain momentum and be in a position\u00a0to rival Trump for the nomination.\u00a0The candidates have\u00a0jostled\u00a0to become the\u00a0GOP\u00a0alternative and coalesce the non-Trump support.<\/p>\n<p>The field has narrowed over the past month, most significantly with former Vice President Pence dropping out.<\/p>\n<p>But the debates, which have historically been a hallmark of the primary process and an opportunity for candidates to surge, have had little effect\u00a0on Trump\u2019s substantial lead with just two months before Iowa votes. And the public seems to be\u00a0losing interest.<\/p>\n<p>While 12.8 million people\u00a0watched the first debate in August and 9 million tuned in to the second debate in September, only 6.8 million\u00a0watched\u00a0Wednesday\u2019s debate on linear television. NBC <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> said the total is 7.5 million when including digital and streaming.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr2_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>Primary debates have often seen this decline in viewership\u00a0in successive\u00a0events, with the first one bringing in the widest audience. But the GOP race in 2024 is unique in having a front-runner\u00a0with a steady and commanding lead\u00a0who has skipped all the debates.<\/p>\n<p>Front-runners have\u00a0forgone\u00a0some\u00a0debates in past years, but Trump does not\u00a0show any indication\u00a0that he will participate\u00a0in\u00a0any\u00a0primary debate.<\/p>\n<p>Republican strategists said Trump\u2019s absence poses a problem for the candidates\u00a0trying to\u00a0break through, noting the\u00a0significant\u00a0audience that the former president would\u00a0likely\u00a0bring.\u00a0But they said Trump\u2019s strategy\u00a0is working, and they do not expect him to join.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr3_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>\u201cIn the end, it just seems like a very futile exercise,\u201d Bonjean said. \u201cThe [Republican National Committee] has to\u00a0have the debates because it\u2019s\u00a0something that we do as a democracy, is every candidate has a chance to debate. You don\u2019t\u00a0want to shut that down\u2026 it\u2019s\u00a0a futile exercise, but it\u2019s\u00a0a necessary one.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He said Trump has no need to be \u201ccross-examined\u201d by the other candidates when he already has the press coverage that he needs.\u00a0The former president has instead held\u00a0<s>multiple<\/s>\u00a0events as counterprogramming during each debate.<\/p>\n<p>On the stage, Haley has\u00a0most consistently\u00a0performed\u00a0well, turning in three straight memorable performances. She has\u00a0particularly shined in talking about foreign policy, a strength given she\u00a0served as United Nations ambassador.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr4_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>She has also scored some notable hits on Vivek Ramaswamy, most recently calling him \u201cscum\u201d over his mentioning of her daughter during Wednesday\u2019s debate.<\/p>\n<p>The former South Carolina governor has enjoyed a rise in the polls that has placed her in a close contest with DeSantis for second place on a national and state level.<\/p>\n<p>The Florida governor is still most consistently placing second in polls to Trump, and he seemed to have\u00a0a stronger debate performance this week.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr5_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>A FiveThirtyEight\/Washington Post\/Ipsos poll\u00a0found\u00a0after the debate that Haley was seen as the biggest winner, while DeSantis came in a decent second.<\/p>\n<p>In past cycles,\u00a0candidates have\u00a0seen a surge following a strong debate performance that puts them in a position to at least fight for first place if not become the front-runner. But even with Haley\u2019s\u00a0recent\u00a0momentum, she\u2019s\u00a0only at about 9 percent\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/projects.fivethirtyeight.com\/polls\/president-primary-r\/2024\/national\/?ex_cid=abcpromo\">nationally<\/a>\u00a0and 14 percent in\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/projects.fivethirtyeight.com\/polls\/president-primary-r\/2024\/iowa\/\">Iowa<\/a>, according to FiveThirtyEight\u2019s polling average.<\/p>\n<p>While Trump is still below a majority in Iowa in the polling average, he has had a majority in the national average for months.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr6_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>Republican strategist Mary Anna Mancuso said the combination of the polling for the five candidates who were on stage Wednesday is still not \u201cwithin striking distance\u201d of Trump.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEven if they have the greatest debate in their life, it\u2019s\u00a0not going to make a difference for the primary election with Trump as all but the de facto nominee at this point in time\u00a0unless he\u2019s\u00a0convicted,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Mancuso noted that the next debate, scheduled for December, could shrink the stage further and give candidates more airtime\u00a0to\u00a0focus on substance\u00a0and\u00a0their policies.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr7_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>The RNC\u00a0raised\u00a0the requirements for candidates to make the debate stage again, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/gop.com\/blog\/qualifying-criteria-for-the-fourth-republican-presidential-debate\/\">requiring<\/a> them to reach 6 percent in two national polls or in one national poll and two polls of the four early-voting states (Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina\u00a0and Nevada).\u00a0They also must have at least 80,000 unique donors.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>That\u00a0could pose an issue for former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), who have consistently polled below that. Ramaswamy has polled close to that level, and only Haley and DeSantis are regularly exceeding it.<\/p>\n<p>Mancuso said the smaller stage could be a chance for the candidates on stage to differentiate themselves from others but still within the context of a dwindling audience.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt the end of the day, is the audience really going to be focused and tuning in at the beginning of December when we\u2019re coming out of Thanksgiving, people are looking to the holidays?\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Zachary Moyle, a Republican strategist\u00a0and former executive director of the Nevada Republican Party, said the idea of a non-Trump alternative\u00a0will\u00a0not\u00a0work in 2024 because Trump is above 50 percent in national polls, unlike in 2016.<\/p>\n<p>A dozen candidates remained in the race in 2016 heading into the Iowa caucuses,\u00a0significantly splitting the GOP primary vote.<\/p>\n<p>Moyle said he believes the\u00a0debating\u00a0candidates\u00a0are using it as an opportunity to prep for the future, such as becoming vice president or running for president in 2028.<\/p>\n<p>He said the audience would \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/trip-and-travel\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"10\" title=\"Trip &amp; Travel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">trip<\/a>le\u201d if Trump decided to attend the next debate. But without him, a wide national audience won\u2019t\u00a0tune in, comparing the debates to this year\u2019s World <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/watch-movies-tv-seriess\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"8\" title=\"Watch Movies &amp; TV Series\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Series<\/a> between the Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks, which had the lowest viewership in TV history.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you have a World Series without the Yankees or the Dodgers, the ratings suck. If you have\u00a0a Super Bowl without a team from Los Angeles or New York, the ratings are smaller. That\u2019s\u00a0all you\u2019re\u00a0seeing,\u201d Moyle said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Copyright 2023 Nexstar <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Media<\/a> Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more News articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/homenews\/campaign\/4304862-gop-debate-ratings-trump-desantis-haley\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fewer and fewer people are watching the GOP\u2019s presidential debates, raising sharper\u00a0questions about their relevance in a cycle where the party\u2019s front-runner, former President Donald Trump, is skipping them. Fewer than 7 million people\u00a0tuned in for this week\u2019s debate, where Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis both got solid reviews for their performances. But with a\u00a0dwindling\u00a0audience&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":597338,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thehill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/11\/fewer_gans_111123_GettyImages.jpg?w=1280","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[78209,145202,134344,117,134343,134353,4941,73014,90482,79172,146933,70289],"class_list":["post-597337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-2024-presidential-election","tag-2024-republican-debate","tag-administration","tag-business","tag-campaign","tag-court-battles","tag-donald-trump","tag-health-care","tag-house","tag-nikki-haley","tag-ron-bonjean","tag-senate"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/597337","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=597337"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/597337\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/597338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=597337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=597337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=597337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}