I think it is always a bad idea to underestimate one’s opponent. Newsome wins this debate by getting his first national media attention. All he has to do is show up, have good hair and make a few glib wisecracks. That’s all latter-day America is interested in.
Agreed, and DeSantis is in a lose lose situation. If he's too glib people can't take him seriously as Presidential timber. If he's too serious, people will think he is unlikeable contrasted with surfer boy. He has to walk a tightrope and I'm not sure, based on his campaign to date, that he is capable.