What to Watch For in Tonight's GOP Debate

The second GOP presidential debate is giving a prime-time stage to several long shots (including New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie) who are trying to prove they're worthy of attention — and to weakened veterans fighting to reassert their viability.  All of them are struggling against the campaign's phenomenon, Donald Trump.

The billionaire businessman will be standing at center stage for the debate Wednesday night at the Reagan Presidential Library in Southern California, reflecting his lead in the national polls.

The Takeaway's John Hockenberry joined WNYC's Jami Floyd to share his thoughts ahead of tonight's debate.

  1. "Positioning" is everything. It's also impossible against Donald Trump.

"You can't just be nobody, but you can't try and outdo Trump," Hockenberry said. "This is an anomaly. We've never seen this before."

  2. It's time for low-polling candidates to step up and make an impression.

"I think the stakes are huge for Chris Christie. If he doesn't register something on some needle somewhere in this debate, he's gone. Same with Scott Walker," Hockenberry said.

 3. No, it's not too early. This debate matters. Seriously.

"Look at those ratings from that first debate. That changes the game completely," said Hockenberry. "The fact that Fox was able, with Trump's help, to get a nationally-engaged audience at this stage of the campaign...means that the [Iowa and New Hampshire] primaries are less important than the national sense of these candidates."