密尔沃基-共和党人不需要唐纳德·特朗普进行辩论在那里他们互相辱骂。

他们可能需要特朗普在台上以有意义的方式与领先者进行接触。但是这个周期的第一场辩论-特朗普拒绝参加引用他在民意调查中的巨大领先优势，展示了共和党的身份和未来道路面临的挑战，以及这么多候选人是多么渴望向选民提供他们在过去十年发生了巨大变化的党内所寻求的东西。

关于…的紧张交流特朗普和他的法律挑战(他否认有任何不当行为)将该党的一些分歧推到了前台。在堕胎权和能源政策等领域的争论也是如此，这些领域的大多数人都同意，而在俄罗斯入侵乌克兰等领域，他们显然不同意。

这场辩论的重心实际上并不在特朗普或他最接近的民调对手佛罗里达州州长罗恩·德桑蒂斯身上，而是在更大程度上政治新人维韦克·拉马斯瓦米。商人兼评论员拉马斯瓦米(Ramaswamy)对特朗普进行了最尖锐的辩护，也是迄今为止对舞台上所有其他人最尖锐的批评。

他在当晚一开始就称他的竞争对手为“超级政治行动委员会的傀儡”，并再次呼吁在思想上进行“革命”，他说这将为美国的国内和外交政策带来巨大变化——非常符合特朗普的形象，他在舞台上多次称赞特朗普。

这导致了一些奇怪的临时联盟上台，前新泽西州长克里斯·克里斯蒂说Ramaswamy“听起来像ChatGPT”，这是指流行的人工智能工具，前南卡罗莱纳州州长妮基·黑利直截了当地说，“你没有外交政策经验，这一点显而易见。”

前副总统迈克·彭斯也批评拉马斯瓦米缺乏经验，称他“选择了一个杀人犯而不是一个亲美的国家”，誓言要切断对乌克兰的援助，因为乌克兰正在抵御弗拉基米尔·普京领导的俄国。拉马斯瓦米对特朗普的拥抱，以及他发誓如果当选总统将原谅特朗普，带来了当晚最激烈的交锋，以及前总统抓住的彭斯的支持。

克里斯蒂喊出了拉马斯瓦米和特朗普，但他自己遭到了观众的嘘声——这再次提醒人们，该党的基础在很大程度上仍在前总统的阵营中。

“必须有人停止让这种行为正常化，”克里斯蒂说。“嘘声是允许的，但这改变不了事实。”

克里斯蒂和前阿肯色州州长阿萨·哈钦森(Asa Hutchinson)都表示，尽管他们签署了“承诺”，无论共和党提名人是谁，他们都不会支持特朗普，如果他被判犯有严重罪行的话。他受到四项指控，并表示不服罪。

克里斯蒂和哈钦森是几个为彭斯决定在2021年1月6日证明2020年总统选举结果的候选人之一，无视特朗普。

德桑蒂斯只是勉强支持彭斯的决定，在几次跟进后说，“迈克尽了他的职责，我对他没有任何不满。”他表示担心，当选民想要一个带领他们前进的愿景时，共和党人会向后看。

“这次选举不是关于2021年1月6日。大约是2025年1月20日，”德桑蒂斯说。

彭斯利用对他的决定的审查来解释自己，并根据他的经历，而不是-或不仅仅是-他与特朗普的著名决裂，为他的候选资格建立了一个论点。

“我们不需要一个太老的总统。我们不需要太年轻的总统，”彭斯说。“我们需要一位经历过的总统。”

这场辩论表明，任何试图限制自由讨论的努力都是有限度的。德桑蒂斯直接说，"我们不是学生"，阻止了主持人在气候变化问题上举手的尝试。后来，当被问及如果特朗普被判有罪，他是否还会支持他时，他不情愿但最终举起了手。

来自南卡罗来纳州的两位候选人哈利和参议员蒂姆·斯科特都指责他们的竞争对手进行谩骂。

“这就是为什么玛格丽特·撒切尔说，‘如果你想说些什么，去问一个人。“如果你想做点什么，去问女人，”海利在辩论开始时说。

“来来回回，孩子气，对美国人民没有帮助，”斯科特说。

但他们来来回回，特别是当特朗普和对他的指控被注入到对话中时。哈利敦促共和党人不要只看特朗普，要清楚他赢回白宫有多难。

在飞行情报区期间，前副总统迈克·彭斯和企业家兼作家Vivek Ramaswamy在南卡罗莱纳州前州长、联合国大使妮基·黑利和佛罗里达州州长罗恩·德桑蒂斯的陪同下相互示意

Brendan Smialowski/法新社

“特朗普是美国最不受欢迎的政治家。那样我们不可能赢得大选，”哈利说。

特朗普并没有像他可能成为的那样成为辩论的焦点，或者如果他参加的话肯定会成为焦点。但他对该党的影响在几乎每一个分歧领域都显而易见，甚至在许多候选人意见大体一致的领域。

多个竞选团队将第一场辩论视为候选人的介绍时刻，这些候选人主要是在与一个尚未加入竞选的国家对话。这激励了包括斯科特和北达科他州州长道格·伯根在内的希望者保持积极的态度。

尽管如此，这场辩论与其说是为了结识新候选人，不如说是为了让共和党重新认识自己的选民。这一目标仍然是一个移动的目标，无论特朗普是否参加辩论，该党的身份仍然由特朗普主导。

竞选有时被描述为特定候选人寻找“路线”的尝试。这一次，这些路线仍在转变，破坏性力量迫使候选人对选民将如何回应做出有根据的猜测。

Trump's absence didn't dominate Republican debate, but it still showed his lasting influence: ANALYSIS

MILWAUKEE --Republicans didn't need Donald Trumpto have a debatewhere they called each other names.

They may need Trump on the stage to engage with the front-runner in a meaningful way. But the first debate of the cycle --which Trump declined to participate in, citing his huge polling lead -- showcased both the challenges to the GOP's identity and future path and how eager so many candidates are to deliver voters what they're looking for in a party that's changed so extensively over the last decade.

Tense exchanges aboutTrump and his legal challenges(he denies any wrongdoing) brought some of the party's divisions to the forefront. So did arguments over areas like abortion rights and energy policy, where most of the field agrees -- and areas like Russia's invasion of Ukraine, where they most decidedly do not.

The debate's center of gravity actually wasn't Trump or his closest polling rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, as much as it waspolitical newcomer Vivek Ramaswamy. Ramaswamy, a businessman and commentator, offered the most strident defenses of Trump and by far the most stinging critiques of all of the others on the stage.

He started the night by calling his rivals "super PAC puppets" and repeated a call for a "revolution" in thinking that he said would bring dramatic changes to the U.S. approach to domestic and foreign policy -- very much in the mold of Trump, whom he praised repeatedly on stage.

That made for some odd, ad hoc alliances on stage, with former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie saying Ramaswamy "sounds like ChatGPT" -- a reference to the popular artificial intelligence tool -- and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley saying flatly, "You have no foreign policy experience and it shows."

Former Vice President Mike Pence also targeted Ramaswamy's lack of experience, saying he was "choosing a murderer over a pro-American country" by vowing to cut off aid to Ukraine as it defends itself from Russia, led by Vladimir Putin. And Ramaswamy's embrace of Trump, along with his vow to pardon Trump if elected president, brought some of the night's most barbed exchanges, along with a rallying behind Pence that the former president seized.

Christie called out Ramaswamy and Trump but himself was booed by the audience -- another reminder of how the party's base remains largely in the former president's camp.

"Someone's got to stop normalizing this conduct," Christie said. "Booing is allowed, but it doesn't change the truth."

Both Christie and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said that, despite their signed "pledges" to support the GOP nominee no matter who it is, they would not back Trump if he is convicted of serious crimes. He is under four indictments and has pleaded not guilty.

Christie and Hutchinson were among several candidates to applaud Pence for his decision to certify the 2020 presidential election results on Jan. 6, 2021, defying Trump.

DeSantis only grudgingly backed Pence on that decision, saying after several followups, "Mike did his duty, I've got no beef with him." He expressed concern that Republicans would be looking backward when voters want a vision that takes them forward.

"This election is not about Jan. 6 of 2021. It's about Jan. 20 of 2025," DeSantis said.

Pence used the scrutiny on his decision to explain himself and build out an argument for his candidacy that's based on his experience, and not -- or not just -- his famous break with Trump.

"We don't need a president who's too old. We don't need a president who's too young," Pence said. "We need a president who's been there."

The debate showed limits to any attempts to corral freewheeling discussions. DeSantis shut down the moderators' attempt at a hand-raising moment on climate change by saying directly, "we're not school children." Later, he reluctantly but eventually raised his hand when asked if he would still support Trump if he was convicted.

Both candidates from South Carolina, Haley and Sen. Tim Scott, chided their rivals for the name-calling contest.

"This is exactly why Margaret Thatcher said, 'If you want something said, ask a man. If you want something done, ask a woman,'" Haley said early in the debate.

"Going back and forth, being childish, is not helpful to the American people," said Scott.

But back and forth they went, especially when Trump and the charges against him were injected into the conversation. Haley urged Republicans to look beyond Trump -- and be clear about how hard it will be for him to win back the White House.

"Trump is the most disliked politician in America. We can't win a general election that way," Haley said.

Trump wasn't as big a focus of the debate as he might have been, or that he surely would have been if he had attended. But his influence on the party was evident in almost every area of disagreement, even many where the candidates broadly see eye to eye.

Multiple campaigns saw the first debate as an introductory moment for candidates who are largely talking to a country that's not yet dialed into the race. That animated the stay-positive approach of hopefuls including Scott and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum.

Still, the debate played out less as a moment to meet new candidates than for the GOP to reacquaint itself with its own voters. That goal remains a moving target, with the party's identity still dominated by Trump, whether he comes to debates or not.

Campaigns are sometimes described as attempts to find "lanes" by specific candidates. This time around, those lanes are still shifting, with disruptive forces forcing the candidates to make educated guesses about how voters will respond.