The first debate among Republican presidential aspirants is almost upon us. Political junkies like myself will set the DVR for the Fox News broadcast this Wednesday evening.

To be held in Milwaukee, also the site of the party’s national convention upcoming 11 months later, this initial encounter will be far more important for some contenders than for others.

As of this writing a week ahead of debate night, former President Donald Trump is still playing a game of cat-and-mouse as to whether he will show up. Most of his advisers are urging him to skip it, figuring the potential pitfalls outweigh the opportunity in sharing the platform with a collection of hungry, under-polling wannabes.

Smart money says Trump will ignore Fox’s pleadings and stay away. The risk versus reward equation for him is out of whack. If he does not engage, the television audience will fall by at least half. As the eyeballs wither, the chance for some other candidate to breakthrough also declines.

Then there is the problem for Trump of the loyalty pledge that the Republican National Committee is imposing on all candidates as a condition of debate participation: Sign a pledge to support the party’s eventual nominee or you do not get to take the debate stage.

In keeping with his 2016 waffle on the question of supporting the GOP nominee if it was someone other than him, Trump so far has refused to swear this commitment. Perhaps Trump uses this as an excuse to avoid the debate. Though the guess here is that the party would conveniently look the other way, if need be, to get Trump in the debate hall.

Looking the other way when it comes to Trump has become the Republican modus operandi.

Always looking to defy conventional wisdom, there is a chance Trump rejects his consultants and decamps for Milwaukee come Wednesday. He might find it useful to show himself unbowed after the indictment palooza. Picture the possibility of him heading directly to Milwaukee from an Atlanta arraignment.

With or without Trump in attendance, he will be the centerpiece of the night. Other candidates will be evaluated almost solely based on what they have to say about Trump and how they juxtapose with him.

So it goes for DeSantis, Haley, Scott, Pence, Christie, Ramaswamy, Burgum, Hutchinson, et al. As the campaign has developed so far, each is but a planet in some distant orbit around Trump’s sun.

Most of the attention they garner is for what they have to say about the latest Trump statement or outrage or indictment. When was the last time you tuned in to catch Tim Scott’s take on the trade deficit or Doug Burgum’s views on early childhood education or Ron DeSantis’s comments about nuclear power?

But as much as this is a column about Trump and the collection of other entrants, it is also a piece about a wholly different kind of Republican.

J. Michael Luttig is a principled conservative who used to make Republican hearts go pitter-patter. A federal Court of Appeals judge for 15 years, Luttig was often compared to Justice Antonin Scalia for his intellectual rigor and unwavering commitment to originalist doctrine.

A Texas native, Luttig was widely thought to be high on George W. Bush’s list of potential Supreme Court nominees. Even if he never received that nod, losing out first to John Roberts and then to Samuel Alito.

From his retirement home in Vail, with his conservative credentials well intact, Luttig has been unsparing in his condemnation of Trump for straying far from the foundational tenets of this country and putting his own blinded, narcissistic self-interest ahead of any semblance of decency or national well-being.

In Luttig’s words: “The former president has left (special counsel) Jack Smith no choice but to bring charges, lest the former president make a mockery of the Constitution of the United States and the rule of law.”

In comments over the past week, Luttig put the responsibility squarely on Trump’s shoulders: “These claims by the former president and his Republican allies have corroded and corrupted American democracy and American elections. Vast, vast numbers of Americans, into the millions, today no longer believe in elections in the United States of America.”

“Corroded and corrupted.”

Strong words, but clear and apt. How refreshing to hear such precise denunciation from someone of unquestioned standing in conservative circles.

Even if plenty of Trumpers, willfully refusing to hear or see evil, will question and attack Luttig. In a party that now values pugilism above all else, they will find Luttig unforgivably anodyne and attached to traditional precepts of right and wrong.

Which brings us back to Wednesday’s debate, with or without the central figure of Donald Trump.

How refreshing it would be the witness a slew of candidates speak with something approaching Luttig’s moral clarity. Heck, I’d settle for one or two.

Mike Pence has ever so reluctantly bellied up to this bar. In a belated comment after the most recent indictment out of Atlanta, the former vice president offered that, “The Georgia election was not stolen.” Given that Trump would have gladly sat by while his stormtroopers took Pence to some makeshift gallows on Jan. 6, one might think that the Hoosier could muster a bit more enthusiasm for the critique.

A news flash for Pence and the assortment of other competitors seeking to oh-so-tentatively distance themselves from Trump without incurring the wrath of his fanatically loyal base: As Ron DeSantis can attest, Trump-world has little appetite for Trump-lite. They will always choose the original, fully loaded, fully caffeinated version.

In the prescription of onetime conservative hero, Barry Goldwater, why not try offering “a choice, not an echo?”

While not holding my breath, what a transition it would mark to hear a few of these lines from the debate stage.

“As Republicans, we can lament it, but Joe Biden won the 2020 election fairly and squarely.”

“Donald Trump brought these legal travails on himself through a concerted effort to overturn the will of the people by way of a legally-decided election.”

“Hunter Biden is a disturbed, sleazy grifter and deserves whatever sanction comes his way. But it is foolish to conflate his transgressions with Donald Trump’s brazen attempt to nullify our Constitution.”

“In putting his narrow, selfish needs ahead of the law and the national interest, Doanld Trump effectively disqualified himself from ever again sitting in the Oval Office.”

That’s the spirit. Let’s see if a few Republican hopefuls have what it takes to channel their inner Michael Luttig and rise to the occasion.

Eric Sondermann is a Colorado-based independent political commentator. He writes regularly for Colorado Politics and the Gazette newspapers. Reach him at?EWS@EricSondermann.com; follow him at @EricSondermann