1 winner and 3 losers from Fox’s dud of a second GOP debate

The second Republican debate, like the first, took place in a parallel political universe in which Donald Trump was an obscure figure of no serious importance.

The candidates who showed up at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, California, engaged in a largely vapid exchange of canned lines and talking points, repeatedly attempting to create “moments” that didn’t quite land.

Nikki Haley showed some spirit in picking fights with her rivals, I guess. Ron DeSantis tried to seem above it all. Doug Burgum attempted to get someone to notice him, the “governor of an energy state.” No one had all that much to say about Trump.