DES MOINES, Iowa, (Reuters) – Republican rivals Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley jockeyed on Wednesday to emerge as the clear alternative to frontrunner Donald Trump just days before voting in the presidential primary race kicks off in Iowa.
Here are takeaways from their first head-to-head debate:
CANDIDATES ATTACK EACH OTHER, GO EASY ON TRUMP
If there was any doubt that the current race for the Republican presidential nomination is a second-place fight between Haley and DeSantis behind Trump, the debate’s opening salvos dispelled them.
Invited to attack Trump, Haley and DeSantis tore into each other while landing only a few glancing blows on the race leader.
DeSantis, the governor of Florida, called Haley a “mealy mouthed” politician beholden to wealthy donors. Haley, the former governor of South Carolina, accused DeSantis of lying about her record and touted a new campaign website dedicated to knocking down those accusations.
“His campaign is exploding,” Haley said of the DeSantis bid.
DeSantis directed voters to his own website attacking Haley’s record.
“We don’t need a candidate who is going to look down on Middle America,” DeSantis said, comparing her to former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
The two candidates are virtually tied in Iowa, where the first-in-the-nation nominating contest will be held on Monday in the battle to take on Democratic President Joe Biden in November.
A DIFFERENT DESANTIS – BUT MAYBE TOO LATE
In earlier debates on more crowded stages, DeSantis often struggled to land the knock-out punches he needed to distinguish himself as a candidate and gain ground on Trump.
A different DeSantis showed up on Wednesday night. Whether he arrived too late to make a difference remains to be seen.
DeSantis was animated and aggressive, much like he had been in his debate last fall against Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom.
DeSantis came prepared to go toe-to-toe with Haley on their governing records and ready with retorts for the attack lines she threw at him.
He also fired off zingers of his own at Haley, who touts her record as a former accountant.
“We don’t need an accountant in the White House. We need a leader,” DeSantis said.
