The GOP Debates Do Not Matter

Tomorrow night, 8 Republican presidential hopefuls will gather in Milwaukee to debate who among them should be their party's nominee in the 2024 presidential election.

The debate will air on Fox News, but I shall not be watching. 

For this, there is a simple reason.

The GOP debates do not matter.

None of the 8 participants stand a chance in hell. 

Unless former Vice-President Mike Pence, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, former South Carolina Governor and UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy change their name to Trump, the Republican Party will not nominate them.

Of course, defeated, former President Donald Trump will not be participating in this debate. That too does not matter. He could skip all the debates. Trump is going to win more Republican delegates than the eight of them put together. 

If you're someone who inspires greater trust in a person that their own family, you will not lose. Nobody on that debate stage can make that claim. 

The only circumstance under which I see Trump not winning the Republican nomination is if he dies. And even then, I wouldn't count him out. If QAnon devotees gather outside Dealey Plaza awaiting the resurrection of JFK, Jr., then I can only imagine the deification to The Donald. 

Let us also remember that even the supposedly anti-Trump candidates Christie and Hutchinson signed a pledge to support whoever the Republican nominee is and they know damn well it's going to be Trump.

The best these folks can hope for his VP nomination. Frankly, this is unlikely. In which case, they will be happy to settle for a cabinet position or an ambassadorship should Trump win. Perhaps Haley can get her old job back at the UN. Otherwise, it will be a book deal or a podcast. They won't become President, but they'll do just fine.

Of course, if Donald Trump were to defeat Joe Biden in November 2024, now that would matter.