Setting the Agenda

Ukraine remains the only major policy difference between any of the GOP candidates. With Zelesnkyy's visit to DC and more Ukraine aid maybe or maybe not being tied to an omnibus package and possible government shutdown (depending on where we are on Wednesday), all the candidates will get to provide a real-time example of how they will do things differently.

Trump's interview with Megyn Kelly will definitely come up. The former president left the candidates an opening to hit him on his squishy abortion comments, struggling to say a man can't be a woman, and still refusing to admit he made any mistakes with Fauci or the pandemic. Whether they take it or not remains to be seen.

There is one poll I think will affect how the candidates perform, and it's not that Washington Post one that says Trump is beating Biden by nine points and winning young voters by double digits. We just finished a two-day news cycle about how WaPo is fake news. If you want to believe the corporate media is corrupt and lies about everything except when they call Trump handsome, you do you, Skippy.

However, I do think this CNN poll of the New Hampshire primary is going to have an effect on Wednesday's debate:

"But Brodigan, didn't you just mock people for believing fake news media polls?"

Yes. Yes, I did. I also said, "HOWEVER..."

What to expect on Wednesday...

If I am the Ramaswamy, Haley, or Christie campaigns and I see a mainstream media poll -- for one of the only three states that matters right now -- showing a) Trump under 40%, and b) all three of us beating the defacto Trump-alternative, I'm putting the hit out on DeSantis. I'm making sure he's Rubio'd on Wednesday night. And don't think the campaigns haven't had conversations with each other about it. The knives are going to be out.

DeSantis did well enough at the last debate that a lot of the immediate polls showed voters thought he won... and it affected the race for him zero. Wednesday is do or die for the Florida governor. The GOP frontrunner left DeSantis an opening to hit him on abortion, what is a woman, and the pandemic response. All issues DeSantis is at his strongest. He needs to call out Trump BY NAME and show he has some fight in him. Attacking Trump on these issues without saying the name of the person he is attacking on these issues hasn't been working for DeSantis so far.

The other two people to keep an eye on are Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy. They were the two who provided the fireworks at the last over the one key area there is any dispute over: foreign policy. Vivek has become the MAGA alternative without Trump on the debate stage, who echoes the opinions of activists. Haley has become the Trump alternative with the clearest path in the three early states, and as much as we wish it weren't so, the establishment still votes in the primaries as well.

Wednesday's debate comes down to Haley and Vivek pointing their guns at each other, Christie pointing his gun at Vivek, DeSantis pointing his gun off stage at Trump, and the three of them all pointing their guns at DeSantis.

Tim Scott and Mike Pence? We here at the Louder with Crowder Dot Com website wish you well in your future endeavors.