Looking at the Republican Debate from the view of not hating them

 So, the majority of the Republicans presented a world view that I disagree with. But there was one person I admired, Nikki Haley.

Now the general consensus is that Nikki is making a general election pitch, not a primary pitch. That may not help to get nominated, but going forward if she gets out of the primary it will help. What did I like from Nikki:

1. She torn down the arguments against helping Ukraine
2. She said "we" cannot pass a national abortion ban. BUT there may be a consensus to agree to some laws around it, if Congress can get there. But the Republicans alone can't force one. 
3. When asked about "Biden-nomics" and how it is ruining the country, she was the only person up there that said it wasn't just Biden or the Democrats, and proceeded to blame Trump (pre-Covid) and the Republicans that voted for the increases under him.
4. She torn Vivek a new one. That was good to see.

As for the others that one might care about:

• Ron DeSantis: The emotionless, plastic smiled man that would not give a direct answer to any question. He did not look good. Most reviews say he faded like Homer Simpson into the hedge.
• Vivek Ramaswamy: Well he was a smart-ass. He parroted every Trump talking point - including Climate Change is a hoax and Jan 6th was not an insurrection. He was a good debater, but a good debater doesn't mean he had any answers (at least none that I thought was more than a snappy comeback). But his parroting of every Trump talking point - and a big voal supporter of Trump, got him a lot of applause.
• Chris Christie: He seemed confused to see Vivek was a better debater than him. The crowd kind of hated him for being anti-Trump.
• Mike Pence: He actually had a good debate and (other) people seemed to like him. He was a little out there when he said Jesus wanted him to be President - that nutty evangelical vote is already sworn to Trump.

It doesn't really matter because I think the orange one cannot be beat by these people. But if Trump falls, I really hope Nikki can beat out Vivek.

Ron DeSantis at the debate: