C-N-N is gearing up for this Wednesday’s Republican Presidential Debate. This will be the first time GOP voters have heard from Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis since the Alabama debate last month. They’re the only candidates to qualify for the C-N-N event. University of Alabama Political Communication Professor A.J. Bauer was heard during APR's national debate coverage for NPR. He says the moderators in Tuscaloosa didn’t ask about abortion and C-N-N might…
“Nikki Haley seems to be much more realistic about the ability of the Republican Party to continue championing this issue. So I would expect that CNN would raise it. But again, they're all kind of clearly defined on that perspective, so I would think they’d ask a different question.”
Former President Donald Trump will not be taking part in the Iowa debate, and has opted out of any participation so far. When the current Republican frontrunner launched his 2024 presidential campaign after a disappointing midterm election for Republicans, his trajectory was something of a mystery. But barely a week before Iowa's kick-off caucuses, his standing among the GOP faithful is hardly in doubt. UA Professor A.J. Bauer says one of the other candidates during tomorrow’s debate who will probably be the focus…
“I think we're going to see a similar dynamic where you've got Nikki Haley, kind of all the establishment people kind of lining up behind her as kind of a responsible, reasonable pick,” said Bauer. “And I think it's going to depend on whether Trump can do what he did last time, you know.”
Virtually none of the attack ads from Haley or DeSantis is directed at Trump. That's even as Haley's primary super PAC is running multiple ads describing DeSantis as “a dumpster fire," and one of DeSantis' evolving group of super PACs recently launched an ad campaign calling Haley “Tricky Nikki.” Trump and his allies are spending nearly $10 million this month in Iowa. And he's shifted some of his attacks away from DeSantis and toward Haley. But he's also investing in ads targeting Democratic President Joe Biden, the GOP’s likely general election opponent.