EDITOR’S NOTE: This column was written and submitted for publication before the announcement that Scott is dropping out of the presidential race.

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The third Republican presidential debate succeeded in eliciting some serious and thoughtful responses from the five contenders for the Trump-dominated Republican presidential nomination campaign. 

The format, designed by the NBC moderators, allowed for longer, and less-interrupted, responses from each of the candidates. Subsequently, there was far less interactive petty bickering and far more detailing of the candidates’ positions on the issues of the day.

So, what did we learn?

On national defense, all but Vivek Ramaswamy expressed an aggressive posture on increasing the U.S. military budget, particularly the naval ship budget, and in responding to the Israeli-Hamas war with a direct attack upon Iran. 

Unfortunately, none but former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie demonstrated any nuance on national defense issues. 

Christie alone noted that the power of the Navy is not determined by the number of ships in the fleet, but by the threat posed by each ship or submarine. 

Likewise, none among the contenders acknowledged that a direct attack upon Iran could result in a widening of the war in Israel and the loss of many more lives.

On Israel, all of the candidates stood beside that nation, most offering U.S. support with no pre-conditions or advisory role, as the Biden administration has utilized. 

Missing from their support for Israel and Judaism, here and abroad, was a recognition of the importance of recognizing that anti-Islamic bigotry must also be noted and denounced. 

Again, Christie was the exception, calling for protecting the many Islamic U.S. citizens from acts of violence against them.

On abortion, none of the candidates fared well in terms of where the public stands on the issue. Most notably, U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, R-South Carolina, advanced a national abortion regulation; Ramaswamy rambled into something near “abortion is bad”; Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis defended the six-week abortion ban his administration made law in his state; Christie praised the Supreme Court for ending Roe vs. Wade, and said to let the states work out abortion; Haley gave the most nuanced response, noting that abortion is a personal issue, but praised the end of Roe. 

All in all, they reflected that the Republican positions on abortion are all out of sync with voters, who want most abortions legal and not regulated by the government.

There was an interesting discussion on fentanyl and the dangers it poses to the nation. 

Haley suggested a trade embargo on China until they stopped exporting fentanyl to Mexico, and then to the U.S.; DeSantis said he would send U.S. special forces into Mexico and attack the manufacturing of fentanyl at its source. Others supported more wall on the southern border and more agents protecting the border. Only Christie suggested more technology was needed at the border.

Overall impressions:

• Ramaswamy is not a serious candidate and does not belong on the stage. He is, at best, a distraction.

• Christie was 100 percent at ease last night, knowing the party will not nominate him but using the forum to sound, well, reasonable.

• Haley had another strong performance in terms of knowledge and delivery.

• Scott pretty much ended his relevance with his opening claim that only faith can save the nation, followed by his radical position on abortion.

• DeSantis spent too much of his time arguing “I dids” and, unfortunately, comes off as unlikeable. Not his fault, but hard to imagine him winning a national election.

 • The low blow of the night goes to Ramaswamy, who attacked Haley for her daughter participating on TikTok.

• The wisdom on the night goes to Chris Christy’s closing statement.

• The overall winner was Nikki Haley.

• The overall loser was likely DeSantis, who needed to demonstrate that he was, in this late stage, the candidate for donors to invest in if they do not support Trump. That did not happen.

Jim Crawford is a retired educator and political enthusiast living here in the Tri-State.