Few Alabama references were made, and no direct issues about the state were asked by the moderators during a rollicking fourth Republican presidential primary debate Wednesday at the University of Alabama.

“It was an exciting opportunity,” said Alabama GOP Chairman John Wahl. “It’s a historic night in the state of Alabama.”

He added, “But I was waiting for one of the candidates to yell ‘Roll Tide.’ You got to be a little disappointed when you are on the University of Alabama campus and you don’t hear a ‘Roll Tide.’

There were several indirect Alabama-related references that surfaced during the two-hour debate inside the Frank Moody Music Hall at the University of Alabama and broadcast on NewsNation.

Two of them came from former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie who did say, “Roll Tide,” following an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash inside the post-debate spin room.

• While not referencing U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville, Christie blasted “jokers in Congress” who “couldn’t promote someone in the military who earned their own rank.” It was the only time Tuberville’s months-long hold on military appointments was brought up. Tuberville on Tuesday ended almost all his holds on military promotions that gridlocked the Senate and delayed hundreds of confirmations.
• Christie did name former U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama, and all the other Attorneys General since John Ashcroft’s tenure for not having a high standard selecting U.S. Attorneys “who make sure justice is done.” Ashcroft was Christie’s direct boss when the former governor was an U.S. Attorney in New Jersey.

Alabama was referenced on a question about illicit fentanyl’s deadly grip on the U.S. The opening video package produced by NewsNation was filled with University of Alabama scenery and references. And Tom Fenton of Judicial Watch mentioned Alabama during a question about election security.

“While a lot of the debate audience was local, the moderators instead focused their questions on pertinent national and international issues,” said Aaron Kall, director of debate at the University of Michigan. “Millions of viewers from across the country tuned-in tonight and early voting will take place in states like Iowa and New Hampshire that may not have similar policy concerns to Alabama. No matter which candidate emerges from the Republican primary, Alabama will likely support them and remain a safely reliable red state.”

Former Democratic U.S. Senator Doug Jones, who provided a Democratic response to the GOP debate inside the spin room, said the lengthy back-and-forth between Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley over bathroom bills is very much an Alabama GOP concern.

“The discussion about bathrooms is an Alabama Republican thing,” Jones said. “That’s our Legislature.”

Alabama state lawmakers approved a new law in 2022 that requires students to use the bathroom corresponding with the sex assigned on their birth certificate.

No abortion question

But other cultural issues didn’t surface much during a debate dominated by questions over foreign policy and the economy. The biggest omission appeared to be on abortion, a hot political issue facing Republicans after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, erasing the constitutional right to abortion.

The issue has been a difficult one for Republicans at the polls, with ballot initiatives in Ohio and Kansas –states that typically vote Republican — backing a woman’s right to choose. Alabama voters more recently weighed in on abortion in 2018, with 59% of state voters backing a legislative amendment to the state Constitution outlawing abortions.

A NewsNation/Decision Desk HQ poll released last week shows the difficulty of the issue among Republicans – nearly 30% of Republicans screened believe the party is doing too much to restrict abortion, compared to only 9% who believe the party is doing too little.

“The omission of the abortion topic tonight was surprising,” Kall said. “(South Carolina Congressman) Tim Scott and (former Vice President) Mike Pence previously led the charge on this issue and their absence from the debate could have played a role in this decision. It seemed like NewsNation and the moderators were pretty intent on asking questions of great importance and timeliness to the Republican Party. The abortion issue has been vexing to Republicans in recent elections and ballot initiatives. Less attention here at this time may not be the worst thing considering the lack of consensus and other available topics.”

Spin room confrontation

Foreign policy was a dominant topic during the debate, and the saltiness on the debate stage spilled out into the spin room when a Christie backer and New Jersey rabbi confronted Ramaswamy over past remarks from the businessman that the U.S. should not be giving aid to Israel in its war against Hamas.

“I put him on the defensive,” said Rabbi Shmuley Boteach after shouting at Ramaswamy as the candidate shuffled in between TV interview spots.

“This is not a little story,” Boteach, a 2012 congressional candidate in New Jersey, said. “It’s dominated the (headlines) for the past three months. He’s the only candidate asking for Israel to be defunded by the United States.”

Boteach was joined with Rabbi Kussi Lipskier, executive director of the Chabad at Bama, who said there are concerns over Jewish students facing threats and violence on campuses nationwide. He said those issues do not exist at the University of Alabama, which he called “for Jewish students, one of the best kept secrets.”

“Relative to other universities, it’s incredible,” he said.

Trump looms large

The chatter about former President Donald Trump also continued in the spin room. Trump, an overwhelming favorite heading into the Iowa caucuses next month, snubbed all four presidential primary debates. He spent Wednesday in Florida for a fundraising.

Wahl called Trump the “biggest winner.” Earlier in the day before the debate began, Republican Alabama U.S. Senator Katie Britt officially endorsed Trump’s candidacy.

“If we’re honest (about) the debate, the biggest winner is Donald Trump,” Wahl said, defending Trump’s political decision not to attend the debates by adding that the ex-president is a “known quantity. They know who he is. He doesn’t need to be on the debate stage like the other candidates do.”

“Do I understand his decision not to come? 100 percent,” Wahl said. “The Republican primary voter trusts him and he’s leading in the polls by such a large margin, and I would be surprised if he would have come.”

Wahl, though, said he felt DeSantis had a strong debate night. The Florida governor was aggressive in his criticism toward Haley, as the two are polling close to each other for second place in the GOP primary.

Still, Trump enjoys a 47-point lead over DeSantis in polling tracked by FiveThirtyEight.com.

Criticism of Trump was mostly limited to Christie, who was booed by the Alabama audience for his jabs at the former president. The former New Jersey persistently questioned DeSantis on whether he felt Trump was fit to be president. DeSantis responded that “Father time is undefeated,” and claimed someone near 80 years old should not be elected as president.

“We learned tonight that the four candidates still lack a coherent strategy on how to take on frontrunner Trump without alienating his base of supporters,” Kall said. “The moderators smartly insisted on continuing to discuss the elephant not in the room, but everyone had a different strategy regarding how to best handle Trump. Despite solid debate performances here and there, nothing to date has significantly transformed the overall trajectory of the race and there is no indication that (the Alabama debate) will be any different.”