Yup. Trump's a showman first and foremost. Anyone who doesn't get that is doomed to lose to him in anything where charisma can carry.

I don't think he had a chance in hell of winning the office, but I would have loved to see a Trump vs. Ramaswamy debate. I think he was the only one of the Republican candidates who may have had the spine to understand that the way you beat Trump in a debate is to be Trump but smarter. You call him some names, you shout over him, you assert your dominance just as strongly but you aim your shots at his weaknesses.

Make a dumb face, mock his "I had the greatest. The world's best" and follow it up with an attack on his history of surrounding himself by yes men who tell him he's the greatest while he fumbles around in the dark. Or give an explicit plan for something, wait for his vague reply, then jump down his throat.

I really don't understand how none of the other candidates have figured it out. That's actually why I consider Newsom the biggest threat. He's a complete and total sleezeball, but he has a showman (well, a used car salesman) side too and he lies as well as Trump. Fucker holds up his time as mayor of San Francisco as if it were a positive thing while lying through his teeth. He's in his 50s, he speaks well, women will vote for him because he's attractive, he's well-connected, and his policies are the worst of the worst. He's a huge threat.