< 5 major takeaways — and one thing missing — from the fourth Republican debate

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

OK. Republicans debated for a fourth time last night in Tuscaloosa, Ala., and for a fourth time, they did so without the front-runner in the race, Donald Trump. So did anyone stand out with just over a month to go before voting begins in this Republican primary? Well, to help us answer that, let's bring in NPR senior political editor and correspondent Domenico Montanaro, who watched the News Nation debate and has some thoughts. Hey, Domenico.

DOMENICO MONTANARO, BYLINE: Hey - good to be with you, Ailsa.

CHANG: Good to be with you. OK, so what was your biggest takeaway from what you saw last night?

MONTANARO: I mean, I think it's become pretty clear that Nikki Haley emerged as the front-runner of the candidates running who aren't named Trump. You know, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy went after her repeatedly, sometimes particularly from Ramaswamy with some pretty mean-spirited attacks. At one point, after criticizing her for how she's made and raised money, Ramaswamy held up a notepad that said, Nikki equals corrupt, scribbled on it. Let's listen to how Haley dealt with this Ramaswamy attack.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

VIVEK RAMASWAMY: Having two X chromosomes does not immunize you from criticism.

ELIANA JOHNSON: OK, thank you. Thank you, sir.

ELIZABETH VARGAS: Thank you.

JOHNSON: Governor Haley, would you like to respond?

NIKKI HALEY: No, it's not worth my time to respond to him.

MONTANARO: You know, and that sort of tells you everything about her place in the race as compared to some of these others.

CHANG: Well, I mean, maybe Haley did establish herself, but she still has Trump to contend with. And, I mean, she's still pretty far behind him, right?

MONTANARO: Yeah, they all are. I mean, there's just 39 days to go until the Iowa caucuses, and they're, you know, 30 points or more behind him in the polls.

CHANG: Wow.

MONTANARO: And it's not just Trump that Haley has to contend with. First, she has to get past DeSantis, who's staked his candidacy on Iowa. Haley is doing better in New Hampshire. But for either of them to be able to go head-to-head with Trump, one of them has to leapfrog the other. Their campaigns and super PACs supporting them know this, and that's why they're targeting each other on stage and in ads. DeSantis' team feels like he had a strong debate. He was certainly aggressive. But the question is, was that coming from a place of strength or weakness? And can either he or Haley close the gap with Trump without much time remaining?

CHANG: Yeah. I mean, speaking of Trump, he was a no-show again. Why does he keep insisting on skipping these debates? And how much does he figure or did he figure into this particular debate?

MONTANARO: Yeah. I mean, his team just doesn't see any advantage in debating these candidates. With a lead like he has, they want to create an air of inevitability around him. And you could tell, at least for former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, that there was a sense of urgency about this. He really pressed DeSantis, for example, to answer whether Trump should be president again, not that - not just that he's too old.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

CHRIS CHRISTIE: Is he fit...

RON DESANTIS: You have your thing.

CHRISTIE: No. Is he fit, or isn't he?

DESANTIS: You have your thing.

CHRISTIE: No, I don't have my thing.

DESANTIS: We don't...

CHRISTIE: He's the thing. Is he fit, or isn't he?

DESANTIS: We do not want to do someone that's almost 80.

CHRISTIE: You're talking about him being 80 years old.

DESANTIS: It doesn't mean that somebody...

CHRISTIE: Ron, is he fit?

DESANTIS: ...Couldn't be elected.

MONTANARO: Well, a lot of crosstalk there. But, you know, DeSantis, at the end of the day, didn't answer that question, and it's really emblematic of how lightly these candidates, other than Christie, have really treaded when it comes to Trump. You know, Haley was critical of Trump on the debt and China, DeSantis on not - on Trump not finishing the wall and making Mexico pay for it. But those are pretty tame, relatively speaking. And DeSantis and Ramaswamy defended Trump when it came to those 91 counts of charges against him. You know, Christie accused them all of treating Trump like Voldemort, the villain in "Harry Potter" who's talked about as He Who Shall Not Be Named.

CHANG: Right - so anything else you were surprised by or that struck you?

MONTANARO: Yeah. I mean, I was surprised that they didn't talk about or mention abortion at all, and this was a panel of moderators made up of all women. This has been the issue that has really hamstrung Republicans in the last several elections. They spent some time on this in previous debates, but we heard a lot of rehash on a lot of different topics. And it's surprising considering that they haven't been able to appeal to the middle on this. And really, this becomes the issue, it seems, that's the Voldemort for Republican leaders.

CHANG: That is NPR's Domenico Montanaro. Thank you, Domenico.

MONTANARO: You're welcome.

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