So, how about a 50,000-foot view of last night's Republican debate? Just for starters. Of course, it wasn't totally a Republican debate because Donald Trump wasn't there. More on that later. Of those who were there, I thought many of them had good moments, but frankly, I don't think they totally made the sale against Joe Biden.

They spent too much time sniping at each other, but they didn't rip apart Bidenomics. Didn't talk enough about the problem of middle-class affordability, the high price of basic necessities like groceries, gasoline, falling real wages, sky-high mortgage rates, Biden's crazy climate change war against fossil fuels that has driven up hundreds of prices throughout the economy, telling them they can't have appliances like gas stoves, hot water heaters, lightbulbs, dishwashers, microwaves, ceiling fans and on and on.

The candidates didn't talk nearly enough about all the craziness, or the plain fact that Biden's central planners — who are shoving modern socialism through the regulatory state down our throats, telling us how to live and behave — completely lack any semblance of common sense.

Most disappointing to me, I didn't hear a single MAGA. "Make America Great Again" — first said by Ronald Reagan. Let me give you the quote again from the August 1988 Republican convention, when The Gipper said: "We left with a mutual pledge to conduct a national crusade to Make America Great Again."

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Here's a recent first-rate MAGA from Former President Trump, a couple of weeks ago in South Carolina:

DONALD TRUMP: With your help, your love, and your vote, we will put America First, and we will — I promise you — make America great again. Thank you very much! Thank you very much!

There you go! That was a good MAGA. The Republicans on the debate stage last night were too busy sniping at each other. Didn't really produce what I would call a big, positive, optimistic "we will be the stewards of economic growth and prosperity" message, but there were some good moments. We’ll give you a couple. Mike Pence did argue for tax cuts — take a listen:

MIKE PENCE: I mean, a lot of people don't know that those Trump-Pence tax cuts that we got signed into law go away at the end of 2025 if we don't have a Republican president and a Republican House and a Republican Senate. When I'm president of the United States, we're actually going to cut taxes further. We're going to extend those tax cuts.

Good for Mr. Pence. Lots of tax cuts. I like that. Vivek Ramaswamy made minced meat of Joe Biden's climate change war against fossil fuels. Take a listen:

VIVEK RAMASWAMY: Unlock American energy, drill, frack, burn coal, embrace nuclear.

Love that. Vivek will be with us in just a few moments. Senator Tim Scott had a nice whack at Bidenomics with this one — take a listen:

TIM SCOTT: What we also need to understand is that Joe Biden's Bidenomics has led to the loss of 10,000 dollars of spending power for the average family. When you see 16% inflation, your gas is up 40%. Your food is up 20%. Your electricity is up 20%.

I also liked Gov. Ron DeSantis on law and order and firing local prosecutors. Here's what he said:

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RON DESANTIS: When we had two of these, the district attorneys in Florida elected with Soros funding who said they wouldn't do their job, I removed them from their post.

Then, of course, there's Donald Trump, who is still the front runner and that's my riff.

This article is adapted from Larry Kudlow’s opening commentary on the August 24, 2023, edition of "Kudlow."