Yet another Republican debate that meant… not much?

There we have it. Yet another raucous night, this time in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Here’s a rundown:

Nikki Haley was markedly more quiet after Ramaswamy asked her to name three Ukrainian provinces she would send aid to if she was president, and she was caught utterly unprepared (although this is the exact weak, straw-man attack that is standard for Ramaswamy, it certainly hit for audiences). The attacks didn’t stop after that–it seems that Desantis finally learned how to speak like a human being in preparation for this debate, and no one leaked his entire plan this time, so he held no punches against the fellow former governor about to overtake him in the polls. It’s truly remarkable to see Desantis battle for the measly 10% of voters Haley has captured instead of throwing a couple shots at Trump to see if he can chip away even a smidge of his 60%, although that hasn’t really seemed to work for Christie, so who can blame him. Although Haley had a number of truly excellent moments on stage, the one that stood out the most was when she stated that for every 30 minutes someone watches Tik Tok, they become 17% more Pro-Hamas. No source necessary. How does one measure their “Pro-Hamasness?”

Vivek, ignoring all signs that his extremity is turning off voters, only stood by more of his absolutely psychotic takes. He vehemently nodded his head when asked whether he stood by his previous statements that every Taiwanese family should be given an AR-15 in order to help defend against a potential Chinese invasion, and raised his hand unprompted indicating he would support Trump if he was the candidate, even if he was convicted of multiple felonies. He then attacked the candidates on stage for incessantly bootlicking Trump, which is funny for someone who dresses, talks, and has literally based their entire persona around the man. His attacks against Haley for being tied to big money and corporate interests are also rich considering his illustrious past in large scale, corporate fraud. It makes sense that Ramaswamy is advocating for the blue collar voters of America–he’s only a couple more failed businesses away from being in the same tax bracket as the rest of us.

It’s hard to tell whether it was Megyn Kelly’s scolding or Nikki Haley’s capture of major donors in the last month that woke Desantis up, but it seemed he was back to his regular, old self on stage tonight–spewing unadulterated bigotry and misinformation like nobody’s business. His insistence in his closing that voters needed someone away from the Republican establishment highlights one of the key weaknesses in the Desantis campaign, which is the sheer inability to adjust messaging from the state level in Florida to the national level. Although he might hate to admit it, Desantis is likely the closest to an establishment candidate Republican voters have right now, and he should’ve used that to his advantage from the beginning in order to attack Trump with the backing of a significant base of the party. I’d be inclined to say that his performance might signal any hope for his campaign, but it’s hard to look at his current status as a candidate and think that anything but an act of God to excite evangelical Iowan voters will help his chances. A side note–although Desantis spoke the second most out of all the candidates tonight, 6 out of 8 Iowan voters said they thought Haley won the debate when asked in a CNN flash poll. For a candidate that has staked the future of his campaign on doing well in Iowa, yikes.

At this point, it seems that Chris Christie is only staying in this race for the debates. To be fair, for someone who was so eager to debate the former president, he has certainly come well prepared. Although he didn’t have a single sentence quite as memorable as “Donald Duck” this time around, Christie has offered a fascinating foil, and what seems to be a heeded warning for the rest of the stage. His insistence on continually attacking Trump is clearly a losing strategy, both based on the jeers of audiences at debates and his ailing polling numbers. This apparent fact leaves a disturbing conclusion for the three candidates left on the stage, though; if attacking Trump is so unpopular, what can one do to beat him?

Although this debate included the most substance thus far, time is running out before Iowa, and the big, giant, neon sign showing Trump’s 60% share of the electorate continues to make any action at these debates seem kind of pathetic. Thanks for another two hours of entertainment, and God save the Republican party.