NEWS AND OPINION:
Are we looking for some drama and fireworks when the Republican presidential candidates take the Miami stage on Wednesday night for their third debate?
Could be, although former President Donald Trump will not be in attendance.
“The third Republican presidential-candidate debate in Miami probably won’t draw as many eyeballs as the last, and the stage will be less crowded. But what it lacks in quantity of speakers and listeners it may make up for in drama and conflict,” New York magazine reports.
“As the voting phase of the GOP primary approaches, candidates other than Donald Trump are hanging onto viability by their fingernails and really need to do something to help themselves and damage the others,” the news organization said.
“South Carolina presidential hopefuls Nikki Haley and Sen. Tim Scott are unsheathing their political knives against their Republican rivals ahead of the third GOP debate Wednesday. The two candidates’ campaigns disseminated brutal internal memos bashing their foes,” the New York Post stated.
“Shadow boxing Trump: Why the 3rd GOP debate matters” USA Today said.
“The Nikki Haley-Ron DeSantis feud will play out in real time,” CNN advised, while Time put it this way: “Haley-DeSantis fight expected to dominate third GOP debate.”
The debate airs live at 8 p.m. Eastern time on NBC and will be streamed on NBC News Now, NBCNews.com and Rumble.com.
A UNIFORM RESPONSE
Let’s spend some time with the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, which has just revealed the new uniform design for the Bears — the academy’s football team. History and honor are involved here.
The uniform itself is a tribute to the legacy of Petty Officer Douglas Munro, the Coast Guard’s only Medal of Honor recipient.
“These new uniforms celebrate the bravery and selflessness displayed by Munro during the Battle of Guadalcanal, where he made the ultimate sacrifice. Douglas Munro’s courageous actions earned him the highest military decoration, the Medal of Honor,” the academy said in a written statement shared with Inside the Beltway.
“He selflessly used his Higgins boat to shield and evacuate Marines led by then Lt. Col. Chesty Puller, who found themselves under heavy enemy fire at Point Cruz, Guadalcanal. His unwavering devotion to duty and willingness to sacrifice his life to rescue his fellow servicemen exemplify the values upheld by the U.S. Coast Guard,” the statement said.
“The uniform’s jerseys are a light blue while the pants are Navy blue, reminiscent of the dungarees uniforms worn by U.S. Coast Guard service members during WWII. In addition, Adidas shifted their typical logo placement on the jerseys to allow the Medal of Honor logo to sit over the heart of the player for this collaboration,” it said.
“The helmet features the Signalman First Class insignia, in honor of Munro’s rate and rank at the time of his actions. The uniform pants also feature the insignia of the U.S. Marine Corps unit that Munro rescued, further commemorating the bonds formed in the crucible of combat between the two services,” the statement said.
HALEY’S FARMERS
Nikki Haley’s campaign has a new coalition of voters — appropriately launched in Iowa.
Farmers for Nikki is now up and running in Des Moines, led by Ray Gaesser, president of both the American Soybean Association and Iowa Soybean Association.
“Farmers for Nikki will rally grassroots support among farmers and rural Iowa communities for Haley’s message of a strong and proud America,” the campaign said in a statement shared with Inside the Beltway.
“I’ve looked for a strong leader to lead our great country — someone with balance and respect, not childish name calling and turmoil. Someone who will influence and guide with our American values, domestically and abroad,” Mr. Gaesser told the Des Moines Register.
“I’m tired of the turmoil, egos, and name calling. I want a president and leader who shows strength, balance, and respect,” he said.
The farmer’s coalition joins three other groups who now back Ms. Haley — Women for Nikki, Young Americans for Nikki and Veterans for Nikki.
FOXIFIED
In the week of Oct. 30-Nov. 5, Fox News was the most watched cable channel of all, besting such non-news rivals as ESPN, HGTV and the Hallmark Channel, according to Nielsen Media Research.
Fox News’ daily average of 1.9 million prime-time viewers bested the audiences of cable-news rivals CNN (554,000) and MSNBC (1.7 million). In the daytime viewing hours, Fox News drew an average audience of 1.3 million viewers; MSNBC’s average daytime audience numbered 822,000 while CNN’s audience was 492,000.
“The Five” was the most-watched program in cable news for the week, averaging 3 million daily viewers. “Jesse Watters Primetime” delivered 2.5 million daily viewers, followed by “Special Report With Bret Baier” (2.2 million) and “The Ingraham Angle” (2.1 million).
Late-night kingpin Greg Gutfeld enjoyed an average daily audience of 2 million, besting CBS’ “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” (1.9 million), ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” (1.6 million) and NBC’s “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” (1.2 million).
Meanwhile, “Cavuto Live” — which airs Saturdays at 10 a.m. Eastern time — had an audience of 1.3 million, more than twice the audiences of the weekend debuts of CNN’s “Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace” (620,000 viewers) and “The Amanpour Hour” (538,000).
POLL DU JOUR
• 88% of registered U.S. voters say inflation over the last two years has been “unusually high.”
• 78% believe the U.S. economy is “doing the same or worse relative to other developed nations.”
• 66% believe the national debt “has become a major problem that threatens the economy.”
• 46% say President Biden’s policies and administration “have hurt their financial health.”
• 27% feel they are “falling behind” in their financial situation.
• 49% feel they have “barely keeping up” on their own financial situation.
• 23% feel they have been “getting ahead” in their financial situation.
SOURCE: A Yahoo Finance/Ipsos poll of 1,133 registered U.S. voters conducted Oct. 20-22 and released Tuesday.
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• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.