Ron DeSantis and Gavin Newsom take debate stage in shadow contest

Ron DeSantis, a hard-right contender for the Republican presidential nomination, took the debate stage in Georgia on Thursday night for a contest dubbed, by one eager news site, “The Vendetta in Alpharetta”.

But the Florida governor’s opponent was not Donald Trump, the former president and clear frontrunner, or Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor who has surged in the polls. Nor did DeSantis face any other Republican.

Related: DeSantis and Newsom debate: California and Florida governors square off – live

His opponent was Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, a Democrat who is not seeking his party’s nomination next year, given Joe Biden’s presence in the White House and intent to serve a full second term.

The DeSantis-Newsom “slugfest”, as its Fox News organisers called it, was hosted by Sean Hannity. Long close to Trump, the prime-time anchor and prime “culture war” warrior chose to market his Trumpless project as The Great Red vs Blue State Debate.

Fox said that by “focusing on the major issues impacting the country, the debate [would] examine the vastly different approaches the two governors have and offer insights into their political philosophies as well as ambitions for the nation”.

Hannity, the network said, would “highlight a variety of issues in each state, including the economy, the border, immigration, crime and inflation”.

It also said that without an audience present, the governors would have “equal opportunity to respond and address each issue”.

In the event, Hannity confessed to being a conservative but said his questions would “come from well sourced, fact-centered perspectives”.

Hannity’s first question was about internal migration, Hannity citing numbers showing high numbers of people leaving California and half as many moving to Florida in 2021-22. Newsom, who won the toss, let DeSantis speak first.

DeSantis gave an opening statement heavy on attacks on his opponent and statements aimed at the presidential trail.

“He’s good at being slick and slippery,” DeSantis said. “He’ll tell a blizzard of lies to be able to try to mask the failures, but the reality is they have failed because of his leftist ideology. And the choice for America is this. What [Joe] Biden and [Kamala] Harris and Newsom want to do is take the California model and do that nationally. In Florida we show the conservative principles work. This country must choose freedom over failure.”

Newsom responded in kind.

“Ron discusses his record in a Republican state. As a point of contrast that is different as daylight and darkness. You want to bring us back to the pre-1960s or older, America in reverse. You want to roll back hard-earned national rights on voting rights and civil rights, human rights and women’s rights, not just access to abortion, but also access to contraception.

“You want to weaponize grievance, you are focused on false separateness. You in particular run on a banning binge, a cultural purge, intimidating and humiliating people you disagree with. You and President Trump are really trying to light democracy on fire.”

Neither had answered the question in hand.

For both governors, the debate carried political risk.

DeSantis, long Trump’s closest challenger but now in reverse in the polls, might be seen to be desperate for attention – and, perhaps, lacking in political and physical stature. Recently the subject of reports that he wears lifts in his shoes, the governor, at 5ft 11in, squared up to a 6ft 3in opponent.

In life, appearance is not everything. In debates – from Richard Nixon’s stubble and sweat against JFK in 1960 to Donald Trump’s manic misbehaviour against Biden 60 years later – it often very much is.

In the event, the two men appeared already behind lecterns, both cropped close in their main camera shots. Score one to DeSantis.

For his part, Newsom risked questions about what exactly he thinks he is up to, given Biden’s presidency but also polling which consistently shows voters think him too old for a second term. At 56, Newsom is 25 years younger than Biden. Of course, that most likely means his real target is 2028, and the first post-Biden primary.

Before the debate, Sidney Blumenthal, a former aide to Bill and Hillary Clinton now a Guardian columnist, said: “Newsom’s looking to 2028 and DeSantis is already politically dead.

“I don’t know that Newsom can perform a Lazarus-like miracle for DeSantis. The more useful debate would be between DeSantis and Dean Phillips” – the Minnesota congressman who has launched a quixotic, long-shot campaign to unseat Biden.

“They both exist in the political twilight zone.”

Rick Wilson, a former Republican operative turned co-founder of the anti-Trump Lincoln Project, said Fox News’s debate would be nothing more than a sideshow.

“Both men are engaged in purely performative politics,” Wilson said. “Neither has a practical goal in mind but both are hungry for attention.”