The idea that all of this is "not that complicated" and "pretty simple" is Ramaswamy's pitch. He's organized his campaign around the idea of simple truths. As expected, he's already drawn attacks from other candidates on the stage. Pence has already hammered him on his lack of experience.
-Analysis by Monica Potts of FiveThirtyEight

Christie received loud boos from the crowd as moderators introduced the Republican field at the start of the debate. As of August 2023, the former New Jersey governor’s unfavorability rating is nearly 49%, according to the latest polling averages [published by FiveThirtyEight], () while his favorability rating hovers at 23%.

-ABC News’ Nicholas Kerr and Olivia Osteen

On COVID-19, Republicans are not happy with the Biden administration’s response. According to a Ipsos/Reuters survey from August, only 27 percent of Republicans think the administration has done the right amount to promote public health and fight COVID-19, compared to 66 percent of Democrats and 55 percent of independents. Thirty-three percent of Republicans said the administration has done too much, and 30 percent said it has done too little.
-Analysis by FiveThirtyEight

Haley has been struggling to distinguish herself among the presidential field, so it's notable that she came out swinging against not just the men on the stage with her but Republicans in Washington, DC as well, for passing those substantial spending bills during the Covid-19 pandemic.
–Analysis from Jacob Rubashkin, Inside Elections

Tonight I’m on Pence and Hutchinson duty. Neither candidate appears to have a great shot at winning the primary — the former vice president is at 4 percent in FiveThirtyEight’s national polling average while the former Arkansas governor hasn’t even garnered 1 percent — but Pence at least has a decent chance of making a debate-night splash. Given the events of Jan. 6, 2021, Pence has the strongest claim to the anti-Trump “lane” of the primary. I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw some real fireworks between him and the GOP candidates who have been quick to jump to Trump’s defense after the bad news he has been hit with over the past year. For his part, Hutchinson will have to pull off a masterclass in persuasion and performance to gain substantial ground. In our poll with Ipsos and The Washington Post, only 6 percent of Republicans said they were even considering voting for him, much less were intending to do so. In a more fluid primary, he’d maybe have a shot at doing something about that. But with Trump as the default and other candidates leading the various anti-Trump lanes, those are really tough numbers to come back from.

–Analysis from G. Elliott Morris_