Seven candidates for the Republican presidential nomination are busy spinning themselves as the victors in last night’s debate, but their video editors must be having a hard time finding anything new to cut from canned remarks and crosstalk to help anyone emerge as an alternative to President Trump.

Without Mr. Trump in attendance, the event had little drama. It resembled the 1980 Olympics that President Carter boycotted, giving Americans little reason to watch, and leaving other nations competitive in events where our athletes would have cleaned up if they’d been there to compete.

Outlets carrying the second debate slashed prices for commercial time, anticipating that with nothing new or otherwise at stake, Americans wouldn’t bother to watch. Semafor reviewed rates and found that one buyer who had paid over $495,000 for a 30-second spot in the first debate was quoted just north of $200,000 last night.

Most questions triggered responses crafted in advance, giving the impression that the hopefuls weren’t listening and requiring the moderators to repeat themselves. It was almost possible to see consultants advising candidates to get their lines out on any pretense and, if one didn’t present itself, to give the answer anyway for distribution later on social media.

The moderator from Univision, Ilia Calderón, said that gun violence is “unique” to America. No candidate leapt to defend the country’s honor, pointing out that countries like her native Mexico have far higher rates of firearm murders per capita. Instead, out came the stump speeches.

On President Reagan — whose library hosted the debate — passing amnesty for three million people without any legal right to be in the country, no candidate raised the fact that in 1986 stronger penalties for employers who violated the law were stripped from the final bill by the Democratic Congress and tougher border security never materialized.

When Ms. Calderón challenged Governor Christie for saying immigrants “should be tracked like FedEx packages,” he again delivered prepared remarks, failing to rebut her with the point that legal visa and green card holders are already tracked to ensure they adhere to laws governing their stays.

Governor DeSantis challenged the premise of only a single question, calling it a “hoax” that his state’s public education guidelines had said slavery had benefits, but even this exchange was a repeat. If the goal of a debate is to get to know more about the candidates than what voters know already, the two-hour event failed to qualify for the medal round.

The cumulative performance was enough to cast doubt on the value of debates themselves, at least in their modern formats. Voters might agree with the candidates who said several times that Mr. Trump should have been on stage — with Mr. Christie calling him “Donald Duck” — but the challengers made the reason he didn’t attend apparent.

Mr. Trump’s absence may haunt him if President Biden uses the precedent to refuse debates next year. If we are to be treated to more shouting, more scolding moderators demanding shows of hands, and “Final Jeopardy” style written answers — stunts the candidates refused to play along with last night and in the first debate — the rematch of 2024 may be better for it.

Last night’s faceoff was less Lincoln and Douglas than Abbott and Costello, with insults, bullying, and slapstick but little humor. Vice President Pence’s well-delivered laugh lines were met with silence again and again. His opponents fared little better, the crowd seeming in no mood for humor amid inflation, crime, malaise, and roiling anger.

It could be, too, that the debate reflected America as it is today, full of polished podcasting performers. That, though, would explain why the candidates who seemed most genuine, speaking slowly and in turn — Mr. Pence, Senator Tim Scott, and Governor Burgum — poll at just 4.3, 2.8, and 1 percent  respectively in the Real Clear Politics average.

Mr. Scott was excellent in calling out the way President Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society programs destroyed the Black family, but conservatism was rare in name and policy, with candidates — including the political newcomer and entrepreneur, Vivek Ramaswamy — undercutting their case by saying his own ideas weren’t “Democratic or Republican.”

Mr. DeSantis mentioned the title of Reagan’s speech arguing against LBJ’s election in 1964, “A Time for Choosing,” but there was little of the Gipper on display. Like the 40th president’s Air Force One positioned dramatically overhead, invoking him only seemed a harbinger that none of the people on stage seem likely to be using that callsign come Inauguration Day 2025.

Mr. Pence also succumbed to using language favored by Democrats, referring to America’s immigration system as “broken.” As I wrote for the Sun last year, millions of people walk the path to citizenship each year. Declaring it busted when you don’t get your way is like a child who blames a faulty “Atari 2600 controller for losing at Pac-Man.”

Mr. Ramaswamy — who invoked and broke Reagan’s 11th Commandment not to speak ill of other Republicans — delivered his barbs and lines with the polish of a seasoned politician, prompting an exasperated Ms. Haley to say, “Every time I listen to you, I get dumber.” Look for his soaring rhetoric and refusal to be cowed over business dealings with Communist China to boost his 5.1 percent in the RCP average while increasing his campaign donations.

If, however, Mr. Ramaswamy’s goal is to win and not just raise his profile, he did nothing to threaten Mr. DeSantis’s second-place position at 14.5 percent. He may surpass Ms. Haley’s 5.6 percent third place showing, but neither he nor anyone else came close to catapulting themselves to the front of the also-ran pack.

Mr. Trump has 57 percent support in the RCP average, more than all his competitors arguing under Air Force One’s shadow combined. In a primary, there is no bronze or silver, only gold — the medal that, after last night, the former president is closer than ever to once again hanging around his neck.