Who won the Republican debate? Nikki Haley ‘head and shoulders above the boys’: Experts

Despite taking the bulk of the attacks from her three rivals on stage in Alabama, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley was again the standout performer in Wednesday night’s fourth Republican primary debate, The Post’s panel of political experts agreed.

“Haley was head and shoulders above the boys,” said GOP consultant Bill O’Riley. “She came under withering attack from [Ron] DeSantis and [Vivek] Ramaswamy and proved herself unflappable.”

“Haley was meticulously prepared and her answers were considered and substantive,” he added. “Her momentum should continue.”

“Haley was the leader on stage from beginning to end,” agreed O’Brien Murray, a campaign strategist for Republicans and conservative Democrats. “She stayed in front of the pack and showed she is the biggest threat to Donald Trump, who will still be far in the lead for the GOP nomination.”

Democratic consultant Hank Sheinkopf said the men onstage came across as “jealous” of the former ambassador to the United Nations.

“It was pin-the-tail-on-Haley,” he said. “Did it work? I don’t think so. She did a good job at defending herself … If there were an election going on, she would be the one to beat.”

By contrast, our experts considered the debate another missed opportunity for DeSantis, who polls show is battling Haley to be the lone viable alternative to Trump, both nationally and in key early states.

O’Riley said the 45-year-old “had his best performance to date, but he continues to look awkward and uncertain on the debate stage at times.”

While DeSantis got some of the loudest cheers from the Tuscaloosa audience by inveighing against gender transition surgery for children, O’Riley noted: “That’s the Ron DeSantis that faded in the polls over the past six months. Competent administrator DeSantis might give him a better look. He had a good night, but he did nothing to change the primary dynamic.”

Murray said DeSantis was “too vanilla” and “missed the opportunities to persuade why he should be the alternative to Trump,” while a third GOP consultant, Rob Ryan, called the attacks on Haley by DeSantis and Ramaswamy “an embarrassment to the Republican Party.”

“They obviously never heard of Ronald Reagan’s 11th Commandment [Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican],” he said. “Their attacks on her backfired on them.”

Ryan also slated DeSantis’ praise of Calvin Coolidge as a role model for his potential presidency, calling Silent Cal “a ridiculous choice.”

As in the previous debate, Ramaswamy got the lowest marks from the panel, with O’Riley calling him “irritating” and Ryan describing him as “the big loser.”

“Ramaswamy shows flashes of brilliance, but he hurts himself with outrageous rhetoric,” O’Riley explained. “His best moment was talking about his wife, a doctor, and the expensive disaster that US healthcare has become. His call to address the youth mental health crisis seemed especially sincere.

“But Ramaswamy is going nowhere fast, and he knows it,” he added. “I’d be surprised to see him on the next debate stage.”

“Vivek has been insane since the first debate,” Murray said. “He proved the case to why everyone is tired of him.”

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie got mixed reviews, with O’Riley saying he “deserves kudos for straight talk” about the 45th president, though it won’t pay off for him with the party’s nomination.

More than one panelist agreed Christie had the line of the night within the first half-hour of the debate, when he told Ramaswamy: “This is the fourth debate that you would be voted in the first 20 minutes as the most obnoxious blowhard in America.”

Ryan added that Christie told the “best fib” during his closing statement, when he promised to show “humility” as commander-in-chief.

“Christie didn’t get caught in the muck,” said Murray. “But going after Trump doesn’t help you in a Republican primary.”

O’Riley agreed that the 77-year-old former president “remains squarely in the driver’s seat” as the calendar turns to 2024.

In the end, he said, “it’s impossible to score major points against an empty lectern.”