Haley and DeSantis battle on TV as the race for #2 heats up

Follow live updates from the fourth Republican presidential debate.

As the Republican presidential candidates’ television ads preview Wednesday night’s debate, viewers can expect harsh accusations between Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley, sharp statements from Vivek Ramaswamy and serious, if somewhat twisted, calls from Chris Christie.

It is not clear whether the debate will be the final meeting between the top non-Trump candidates before the Iowa caucuses, which are just 40 days away. Only four candidates take the stage, and one of them — Mr. Christie, the former governor of New Jersey — is not actively campaigning in Iowa.

Here’s a guide to the ads, which may at least provide some fresh ideas for Debate Night Bingo:

Haley vs. DeSantis

In Iowa, where polls show Ms. Haley, a former United Nations ambassador and former governor of South Carolina, trailing Mr. DeSantis, the governor of Florida, the two are locked in an advertising battle.

A new super PAC backing Mr. DeSantis, with the specific mission of attacking Ms. Haley in ads, has spent more than $2.75 million on airtime in Iowa, according to an analysis by AdImpact, a media tracking company. (The group, Fight Right, emerged amid tensions in the DeSantis camp and among leaders of another DeSantis-targeted super PAC, Never Back Down, which has long served as his surrogate campaign. As of this week, Never Back Down had more spent more than $39 million on ad time this election cycle, the AdImpact analysis shows.)

One of the group ads includes clips of Ms. Haley apparently praising Hillary Clinton. “We know her as Crooked Hillary,” the ad says, “but to Nikki Haley, she is a role model.”

At the same time, there is a super PAC supporting Ms. Haley, Stand for America, on broadcast and digital ads in recent weeks, accusing Mr. DeSantis of lying about his positions on fracking and offshore drilling. Stand for America has spent more than $30 million on advertising time this election cycle.

The super PAC has also been released ads he accuses Mr. DeSantis of lying about Ms. Haley. “He lies because he is losing,” the ads conclude.

“Poor Ron DeSantis,” says a narrator in another Stand for America advertisement, over playful music and accompanied by a photo of Mr. DeSantis in a pair of white rubber boots. “His attacks on Nikki Haley? As fake as his boots.’

DeSantis’ all-in approach

Mr. DeSantis and the two super PACs backing him have shifted nearly all their resources to Iowa in recent weeks, an all-in strategy aimed at winning early votes in the primary season.

His campaign has also started distributing its own advertisements, including digitally ads calling for small-dollar donations — a remarkable shift for a candidate who entered the race months ago backed by a super PAC with more than $100 million, and with more than $20 million in a campaign committee and ample interest from major donors. He has long struggled to attract smaller donors.

A major DeSantis ad, which first aired on Monday, functions the messages of support from several Iowans. (As is often the case with real testimonials from voters, their faces can sometimes look as if they begrudge participants in a civil deposition.)

Voices include a farmer saying it’s “time to move on”; a combat veteran, sitting in the bed of his pickup, saying that Mr. DeSantis “knows how to win”; and a “mother of three” who says, “When Ron DeSantis says he’s going to do something, he does it.”

But Mr. DeSantis’ most important endorsement in Iowa, and the most important of all prominently featured in his recent ads is that of Gov. Kim Reynolds, who officially endorsed Mr. DeSantis last month. “He knows the sacrifices of war and the miracle of a beating heart,” Ms. Reynolds said in one advertisement paid for by Never Back Down.

A super PAC supporting Mr. Trump has released in recent weeks ads in Iowa attacking Mr. DeSantis, including a comment that raises alarms about previous comments in which Mr. DeSantis appeared to express support for Puerto Rican statehood. The group has also released a series of them ads he praised Mr. Trump’s presidency and recalled times when gas prices were lower and groceries cheaper. According to AdImpact, Trump’s own campaign has generated more than $2 million in ads in Iowa and New Hampshire.

Ramaswamy tries something new

Mr. Ramaswamy, known for his combative rhetorical style in debates and interviews, has run ads that roughly adhere to that formula: confrontational digital messages, broadcasts accusing his opponents of trying to start World War III, ads promoting economic independence from China Is explained.

But there is an exception. A broadcast advertisement from Mr. Ramaswamy’s campaign shows his childhood piano teacher, Mary Ann Jordan, speaking to the camera over the sound of a gentle piano rendition of Irving Berlin’s “God Bless America.” Ms. Jordan says, “I would teach Vivek about the Constitution after his piano lesson. I taught Vivek to love freedom. Vivek is a true conservative. I put him in the same category as Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump.”

Christie’s sincere, yet sparse presence

Mr. Christie’s presence in advertising has been small in recent weeks. He has limited his campaign to New Hampshire, where polls put him in third place, behind Mr. Trump and Ms. Haley.

A broadcast his super PAC’s ad outlines his priorities for president: curbing inflation, promoting law and order and strengthening the military. But it contains some puzzling grammatical constructions:

“A Christie presidency will be a presidency in which America leads not only our country, but the world.” (America leads…America?)

The ad continues: “The courage to tell the truth. The experience of making it happen.” (To… get the truth done?)