Winners, losers in the first GOP presidential debate

Winners:

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. He was direct, confident and got his messages across clearly while fending off attacks and criticizing frontrunner Donald Trump on his handling of the Covid pandemic. He probably solidified his second-place status and won over some voters.

Businessman Vivek Ramaswamy. Sure, he suffered taunts of “rookie” and “amateur” from more experienced rivals. But he gave better than he got, and managed to keep the camera on himself for a healthy amount of time. For a relatively unknown novice, he didn’t hurt his cause and raised his profile.

Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley. The only woman on the stage spoke out with some unpopular messages for her party, saying Republicans in Washington are just as guilty as Democrats of overspending, and saying the GOP needs to ditch former President Donald Trump. “Trump is the most disliked politician in America. We can’t win an election that way,” she said.

Country folk singer Oliver Anthony. His song “Rich Men North of Richmond” got big exposure at the top of the debate and prompted a discussion of the failings of the Biden Administration and Washington.