Hands down, Nikki Haley won the first GOP debate. And I don’t say this just because she’s a South Carolinian or because she was the only woman among the fiery pack of primary candidates. She was simply smarter (even smarter than you, Vivek), more sensible and more experienced - and it showed.

While the men onstage argued and hurled invectives - some of them, anyway - Haley was poised, precise and prepared. And I would add brave. It took courage to do what others, with the exception of former New Jersey governor Chris Christie, refused to do: speak truth to Donald Trump’s power.

She also called out her Republican colleagues for making Americans think a federal abortion ban is going to happen. The votes, 60 in the Senate to prevent a filibuster, aren’t there, she said. On the debt crisis, she reminded everyone that the debt grew by about $8 trillion under Trump. And in a roundabout reference to Trump’s lack of qualifications for another term, she said a president needs “moral clarity.”

Haley’s tenure in Trump’s Cabinet as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations has been problematic at times, creating potential obstacles to her own presidential aspirations. But any questions about where her loyalties lie were answered in Milwaukee before a live audience of about 4,000 people, as she brought both her executive and foreign policy experiences to bear. A twice-elected governor, Haley oversaw removal of the Confederate flag from the South Carolina Statehouse grounds in 2015 following the murders of nine Black congregants at a famous civil rights-era church in Charleston. As U.N. ambassador, she didn’t need a learning curve and executed her job with polish, if not everyone’s approval.

Wearing a pale blue knit suit on Wednesday night, she shed her gloves but kept the pearls, so to speak. I cheered just a little when she schooled Vivek Ramaswamy about the importance of Ukraine to the United States. The youngest candidate, at 38, Ramaswamy argued that we should redirect resources from Ukraine to our southern border. Haley vehemently disagreed, saying that a win for Russia is a win for China (true) and, therefore, Ukraine is important to our national interests. “You have no foreign policy experience, and it shows,” she said.

Ramaswamy, whom I once considered the most interesting candidate, mainly echoed the policies of The-One-Who-Was-Missing, whom he described as the best president of the 21st century. Young, telegenic, wicked smart and a self-made billionaire, he is the new conservative superstar. But something about him is off. Maybe it’s the arrogance, the stylish braggadocio, the smarter-than-thou attitude. Or the way he uses his dazzling, ultra-bright smile to convey disdain or to deflect.

It’s all too much. Most of the others attacked him on various grounds but did so primarily because he’s polling higher than they are. I doubt he has gone unnoticed by Trump, who could find him reminiscent of his younger self. A possible running mate?