Donald Trump must be smiling right now. The former president came out on top by virtue of his absence from the underwhelming second Republican debate on Wednesday evening, where the seven non-indicted presidential candidates traded incoherent interjections and meticulously crafted zingers at the Reagan Library. Former South Carolina governor and United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley, who demonstrated that her strong performance in the first debate—and her ability to manhandle the boy entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy—were not one-offs.