The first Republican presidential debate is fast approaching on Aug. 23, when candidates will hope to close the gap on former President Donald Trump and separate from the rest of the pack. In this series, Up For Debate, the Washington Examiner will look at a key issue or policy every day up until debate day and where key candidates stand. Below is a list of each breakdown published by the Washington Examiner on driving issues for the field — including spending and debt, abortion, the economy, impeaching Joe Biden, the border, and energy and climate change.
Many of the Republican candidates for president have hit out at President Joe Biden for adding to the national debt since being sworn into office. Notably, Biden and Democrats oversaw a rash of spending early on in the form of pandemic relief and continued that with other legislation.
It is bound to be a big topic at the first debate, and throughout the campaign.
Republican members of the House Oversight Committee suggested that a Biden impeachment inquiry was necessary after Devon Archer, a business associate of Hunter Biden, testified behind closed doors with the committee. But the movement has divided more moderate Republicans who represent districts that Biden won and would face tough reelection bids in 2024 if impeachment charges were brought up, threatening the Republican House majority.
Some of the Republicans running for president have not hesitated, however, to support the more conservative wing of their party in moving to impeach Biden.
Republican 2024 candidates have almost unilaterally used the term “weaponized” to describe the Department of Justice during this election cycle. Some have elevated concerns that the DOJ and FBI labeled parents of students “domestic terrorists,” discriminated against certain traditional Catholics, or coordinated with social media companies to censor protected speech.
But more than any other issue, all of the candidates have been forced, on multiple occasions, to take a position on the DOJ’s decision to prosecute the primary front-runner, former President Donald Trump.
Abortion has already splintered the GOP primary field, giving candidates a talking point when it comes to distinguishing themselves in the first Republican debate of the 2024 presidential election cycle.
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In many issues, analysts see the field as divided into Trump and non-Trump categories, but candidates have positioned themselves on the abortion debate on a scale of whether there is a federal role in it or whether it is a state issue.
Energy and climate priorities will be a key focus in the 2024 Republican primary race as the candidates look to position themselves on oil and gas production, energy security, and sustainability topics such as environmental, social, and governance, or ESG, spending.
While the candidates espouse a wide range of views on these topics, each hopes to present himself or herself as a clear alternative to President Joe Biden, whose policies, they argue, are crippling economic growth, pushing up consumer prices, and threatening U.S. competitiveness while driving an outsize reliance on China for manufacturing and production.
Foreign policy
Coming August 12
Immigration and the border
Coming August 13
The Second Amendment
Coming August 14
Education
Coming August 15
Taxes
Coming August 16
Big Tech
Coming August 17
LGBT issues
Coming August 18
Defense and the military
Coming August 19
Crime
Coming August 20
Artificial Intelligence
Coming August 21
Election integrity
Coming August 22
Size of the federal government
Coming August 23