The first Republican Presidential Primary debate, held in Milwaukee this week, was somewhat overshadowed by three things: internationally, by the entirely-coincidental demise of Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin near the Moscow his forces nearly invaded not so long ago; domestically by the impending surrender of Donald Trump to Georgia authorities regarding the RICO indictments there; and finally by the notable absence of Trump from the debate, which he declined to attend.

And yet the debate went on, and it ended up being a pretty good one, all the more so because of Trump’s absence. The former president’s shunning of the proceedings allowed for somewhat more of a policy discussion (to the extent that those take place anymore) than would have been possible under the circus-like Vaudeville act it would have degenerated into with his presence. Herewith a few notes on what happened.

The first thing to note is that as much as this upcoming presidential election is shaping up to being an exercise in despair, there was an awful lot of political and intellectual talent on that stage. Indeed, were it not for the lingering influence of Trumpist populism, the collected former governors (including a former vice president and a former United Nations ambassador) and an impressive senator may be the best bench the GOP has put up in a while.

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis had probably the most pressure to perform well, being generally considered the most likely candidate to wrench the nomination from Trump, if that can be done. He also had to make up for the perception that has been following him in recent weeks that his campaign is floundering.

He didn’t do himself any favors; he didn’t make any major mistakes either, but he didn’t quite portray himself as a commanding front-runner. Many of his answers were hesitant, non-committal, or came across as artful dodges. Not exactly the image he needed to project, and I suspect part that comes from a bit of internal indecision – does he try to attract Trump supporters by being as much like him as possible, or carve a separate identity and risk losing that crowd? He’s trying to do both, and it’s not playing well.

Much was expected, by some watchers, of former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. His performance wasn’t dazzling either, but he did have a couple shining moments, like when he pointed out to the audience Trump’s behavior was not worthy of the U.S. presidency, and when he delightfully called Vivek Ramaswamy the candidate from ChatGPT.

Ramaswamy, who has been challenging DeSantis’s grip on second place in the polls, undoubtedly stole the spotlight during the debate; but not necessarily in a positive way, and one would be hard pressed to say he “won.” The young entrepreneur seems to be modelling himself as Trump 2.0, and mirrors many things, good and bad, about the former president. He certainly has a gift for wielding catchy rhetorical soundbites, and pairs that with an unmistakable youthful energy. And some of his ideas, to the extent he expounds on any, are not bad. But others are horrendous, especially his appeasement-based notions on foreign policy, which would appeal to Bernie Sanders and CODEPINK.

The adults in the room were Mike Pence and Nikki Haley, both of whom called out Ramaswamy from the right for his naively isolationist foreign policy views. The line of the night arguably came as Haley methodically deconstructed Ramaswamy’s positions about making Ukraine cede territory to Russia, and of sacrificing Taiwan, telling the confused young man to sustained audience applause, “You have no foreign-policy experience, and it shows!” Indeed.

If the debate had a clear winner, it would be difficult to argue against the honor going to Haley. As Noah Rothman observed in National Review, Haley made “the genuinely courageous decision to treat Republican debate watchers like adults.” Her answers and positions, particularly her answer on the abortion question, were realistic, and well thought out. They may not have been the soundbites and platitudes aimed solely at attracting the party base, and she may have irritated some of the more ideologically rigid populist primary voters, but hers was the most effective performance if winning the presidency in a general election – and subsequently leading the nation – is the goal.

In sane times, this week’s debate would have positioned Haley, Pence, DeSantis and Tim Scott, in roughly that order, as the Republican frontrunners. But we do not live in sane times, and Trump appears to maintain a lock on that status. But there is a long way to go until then, and lots may yet happen. It is conceivable, after seeing the first debate, that Ramaswamy and Trump (and to a lesser extent DeSantis) might end up battling over the same constituency, leaving a route for a strong traditionally conservative candidate like Nikki Haley who can actually win an election. Hope, as they say, springs eternal.

Kelly Sloan is a political and public affairs consultant and a recovering journalist based in Denver.