Will Chris Christie live up to his own hype? And other things to watch for in the first GOP debate.

Chris Christie has been teasing his debate skills since he launched his presidential campaign.

“You want me on that debate stage,” he told voters in New Hampshire as he announced his second presidential bid there in June.

He’s repeatedly previewed on cable news shows and the campaign trail the kind of tough-talking former prosecutor jabs he says are needed to take down former President Donald Trump. Now he’ll have a chance to make his case on a nationally televised debate stage.

But Trump won’t be on it.

Trump, the front-runner for the Republican nomination, said this week that he will skip the debates. Instead, he had a sit-down interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson that’s slated to run online during the GOP debate.

The first Republican debate will run two hours, starting at 9 p.m. Wednesday. It’s being broadcast live from Milwaukee and moderated by Fox News Channel hosts Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum. It’s unclear where the Trump interview will be posted; Carlson has been releasing interviews on Twitter since he was fired from Fox News earlier this year.

Christie, a former New Jersey governor whose popularity hovers about 2% in most national polls and in the high single digits in New Hampshire, will need to figure out how to make his case with Trump in absentia. He has largely had the anti-Trump lane to himself, an area he’s trying to capitalize on despite backing Trump up until the former president falsely claimed he won the 2020 election.

The other candidates expected on stage are Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, former Vice President Mike Pence, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson. They largely fall into two groups when it comes to Trump: Christie and Hutchinson, who have been the most critical of him; and everyone else, who has been a mix of outright defensive or more mildly reproving.

Christie is a strong debater hoping to make a splash in a crowded field where no one has gained much traction. But he’ll need to do more than deliver some sound bites. He’s got to figure out how to make people care about his candidacy.

He’s been here before. Christie had a big debate stage moment the last time he ran for president in 2016, but it harmed Florida Sen. Marco Rubio more than it elevated Christie’s standing. Christie finished in sixth place in New Hampshire and dropped out of the race.

Here are other things we’re watching for on Wednesday:

A stage without Trump is a blessing and a curse, as it lowers both the stakes and the likely viewership. Trump is a master at drawing attention toward himself and away from his rivals. By skipping the debate and scheduling an interview that will be on at the same time, he’s actively pulling eyeballs away from everyone else.

Without the front-runner on the stage to absorb blows, the potential for a standout performance that shakes things up seems unlikely.

Still, a Trump-less stage presents opportunity for candidates, many of whom are introducing themselves nationally for the first time and who have become frustrated with a primary entirely defined by the former president and the criminal cases against him.

Just because Trump isn’t on the stage doesn’t mean his presence won’t be felt — and mentioned. Do candidates such as DeSantis and Pence strengthen what they’ve said about him in the past? Or steer clear of attacking a person leading by double-digits in most polls?

There hasn’t been much discussion of policy yet. Most of the candidates have, instead, focused on arguing why they are best suited to beat President Joe Biden. Many have also leaned into culture war issues, such as anti-transgender policies in schools.

One topic to look for will be abortion. The Fox News moderators could ask the candidates about it to suss out differences on a key topic. Or the conservative network could steer clear of an issue that can be political kryptonite for the GOP.

DeSantis enters the debate polling a distant second to Trump after revamping his entire campaign.

DeSantis’ polling numbers have dropped about 50% since April, shortly before he announced his candidacy. Wednesday’s debate is an opportunity for him to try to regain momentum.

It could also be a chance to see how he responds if he becomes the de facto target of other candidates on stage.

A memo drafted by a super PAC supporting his campaign encouraged DeSantis to go on the offensive and attack Ramaswamy while defending Trump against attacks from Christie. DeSantis has since denounced the memo and said he hasn’t read it. (Campaigns and super PACs cannot coordinate.)

Two months ago, Ramaswamy was explaining how to pronounce his name. Now he’s climbed to third place in most polls.

Ramaswamy, a political outsider and biotech millionaire, is the youngest GOP candidate and has gained traction for his anti-establishment, charismatic presence. His social media following has ballooned since he announced his candidacy and some, such as DeSantis, have indicated that they will try to halt his early momentum on the debate stage.

Some of Ramaswamy’s more controversial ideas could make such challenges easy. He’s said he wants to raise the voting age to 25 and plans to eliminate the Department of Education, the FBI, and the IRS.