Four of the Republican presidential candidates were at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa last night for their fourth and final debate before next year's primaries.
Once again former President Donald Trump chose not to attend. That certainly makes the debates a little less lively perhaps than the 2016 versions.
Although Wednesday night the candidates did occasionally speak above each other, and Vivek Ramaswamy made a thinly veiled reference to former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's weight, so there was a little of that Spirit of '16 in the house.
Even though they were in Tuscaloosa, nobody made a big deal out of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' pledge that the state would pay for legal costs if Florida State decides to dig into the College Football Playoff Committee's decision to leave the Seminoles out.
However, Christie did take very fleeting swipes at a couple of Alabama senators present and past.
First, “These jokers in Congress ... they couldn’t promote someone in the military who earned their own rank.” That had to be a knock on U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville's blockade of military promotions that he ended earlier this week.
Then he included former U.S. Sen. and U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions while listing recent AGs he believed were less effective than John Ashcroft.
Just a few hours before the debate, U.S. Sen. Katie Britt of Enterprise announced her endorsement of Donald Trump, the frontrunning candidate who was NOT coming to her state. The timing may seem weird, and you might wonder whether such a thing might take some air out of the debate. But others might suggest that endorsements are about as valuable as an unbeaten ACC record and not nearly as exciting.
