By: Jonathan Hogue ~Opinions & Editorials Editor

The Republicans will hold their second primary debate on Wednesday, Sept. 16 at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. The debate will focus on a host of issues, but the candidates themselves will be the main focus.

Establishment Republicans like John Kasich, Jeb Bush and Scott Walker will discuss their experience and how their executive and legislative experience is needed in the White House.

The outsiders Donald Trump, Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina will counter with rhetoric that shows Washington insiders as the reason for today’s problems.

Trump dominated summer coverage with his brash and sometimes harsh words for his competitors. This week, national polls showed Carson running neck and neck with Trump in early primary states crucial to the nomination process.

Political pundits will focus on how the candidates engage and do not engage with Trump. Bush, Marco Rubio and others began their campaigns by ignoring Trump’s comments.

Rubio, once a primary front-runner, insisted that voters will see that Trump’s candidacy does not have the substance needed to take on the Democrats in 2016.

Today, Trump is still number one in a majority of polls, and establishment Republicans are fighting outsiders for the party’s direction. At recent events, Bush criticized Trump, saying, “You can’t insult your way to the presidency.”

Rand Paul uploaded a video of him taking a chainsaw to the U.S. tax code, Mike Huckabee led the rally for embattled Kentucky County Clerk Kim Davis and Ted Cruz led a Tea Party rally in Washington, D.C., to fight the Iran Nuclear Deal.

The party’s leadership hopes that Wednesday’s debate will focus on issues and leave party-bashing aside. Polls show that most of the Republican contenders run behind Hillary Clinton in a hypothetical general election.

With the Ronald Reagan Library as the location, viewers can expect the party to remind Americans of Republican dominance and what is in store for the future. Only time will tell how the debate, primary battle and general election will turn out.

Stay tuned.