What to watch for in the final GOP debate before the Iowa caucuses

CNN —

The final Republican primary debate before the Iowa caucuses will be a one-on-one showdown between former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, now riding a wave of momentum in the polls and boosted by a barrage of outside spending, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, whose performance in the Hawkeye State could make or break his campaign.

Former President Donald Trump will again be elsewhere, making a solo appearance on Fox News rather than joining his rivals on stage at Drake University in Des Moines.

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The debate, scheduled for 9 p.m. ET and hosted by CNN, will provide Haley and DeSantis one final chance to pitch themselves – and make the case against one another and Trump – before the first votes are cast next week. Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie failed to make the stage under the heightened qualification threshold, a reflection of the increasingly broad margins separating the contenders from what began as a field of nearly 20 candidates.

What remains the same, however, is Trump’s absence. He has skipped every GOP primary debate to date and will do so again a day after opting to appear in the DC Circuit Court of Appeals for oral arguments over whether he should have immunity against federal charges of attempting to subvert the results of 2020 presidential election.

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