Republican Primary Voters Are Losing Interest in Their Partys Debates

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The second Republican presidential primary debate looks set to attract less interest from GOP primary voters than the first, suggesting former President Donald Trump’s continued absence from the stage is depriving his challengers’ fledgling campaigns of some much-needed attention. 

According to our latest survey, 38% of potential Republican primary voters now say debates are “very important,” down from 49% who said the same in advance of the first debate in August. The decline was slightly larger among voters supporting Trump, 2 in 5 of whom see the matchups as that important, compared with 36% of the people backing someone else. 

It’s the latest sign that the party faithful are taking their cues from Trump, who clearly doesn’t see Wednesday’s Reagan Library stage as important, and will instead be in Michigan to meet with union workers — some of whom are core to his coalition as his presence in the GOP has helped improve the GOP’s brand with the working class. 

Despite his dominance in the race nationwide, Trump’s decision not to participate in the first two matchups — and the idea that he may not participate in future ones — nevertheless remains at odds with the bulk of views among the GOP’s electorate. 

The vast majority of potential Republican primary voters (72%) said Trump should participate in at least some debates, similar to the share who said the same before the Aug. 23 debate, compared with 17% who said he should participate in no debates. However, the gap has closed on the question for Trump supporters and those backing someone else. The former have become less likely to think he should participate, while the latter are pushing for him to show up.

Without Trump on stage, expectations are high for entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, the No. 3 contender for the nomination, who had 9% backing in the  latest update to our GOP primary tracker. 

Roughly a third of voters expect Ramaswamy to perform best, matching the share who said the same last month, while Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — the No. 2 contender, with 15% support in our tracking of the primary contest — has seen expectations drop, while they’ve grown for former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who enters the second contest on stronger footing than she did the first. 

When it comes to the issues at hand, there has been a slight uptick in the share of voters who said it’s “very important” for the candidates to discuss the economy (from 79% to 85%) and immigration (69% to 74%), while the share who prioritize China has fallen (51% to 46%).

Three in 10 potential Republican primary voters say it’s very important that candidates discuss Trump (31%) or President Joe Biden (32%). 

The bottom line

Our ongoing tracking of the GOP’s 2024 presidential contest suggests Trump paid no price for skipping the first debate. And ahead of the second debate, the fact that GOP primary voters are decreasingly likely to see the debates as pivotal provides another sign that Trump’s debate evasion strategy is working — or at least isn’t hurting him.

Barring any major gaffe from candidates on stage with significant support, such as DeSantis or Ramaswamy, the second debate is unlikely to shift the trajectory of the contest for the GOP’s 2024 presidential nomination given the fragmented nature of the forces in the party pushing for someone other than Trump to carry the mantle next year. 

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