GEOFF BENNETT: For a breakdown of the week's political headlines, we turn now to the analysis of Brooks and Marcus.

That's New York Times columnist David Brooks, and Ruth Marcus, associate editor for The Washington Post.

Jonathan Capehart is away tonight.

With a welcome to you both.

And so looking at the week that was, Donald Trump and 18 of his associates were indicted in Georgia this week in a charging document that accused him of being the head of a criminal enterprise to overturn the 2020 election.

And, David, it strikes me that Donald Trump has legal problems in Georgia.

He also has political problems in Georgia, because, as The Wall Street Journal pointed out this past week in a well-reported article that really sort of captures the ways in which Trump fatigue is pervasive in Georgia, especially among some suburban independents and disenchanted Republicans.

And then you have got the popular governor there, Brian Kemp, who has called out Donald Trump's election lies and has tried to push the party beyond obsessing over the last election.

Does Georgia provide a road map for Republicans to move beyond Donald Trump, of course, those Republicans who choose to do that, who want to do that?

DAVID BROOKS: Well, the Georgia Republicans saw Trumpism face to face.

It wasn't just lies that happened to somebody else.

It was lies directed directly at them.

So they have seen the brute reality, and they are unable to escape the obligation to respond to that.

I thought Brian Kemp would have been the strongest Republican to run against Donald Trump.

He's a very successful governor.

He's demonstrated his courage in standing up to Trump.

And the fact that he's decided not to run for president was, in my mind, to my -- a tragedy to the party.

So, I think -- I'm glad the Republicans in Georgia are one of the few brave holdouts, but we need somebody to lead the charge, and Kemp was perfectly positioned.

GEOFF BENNETT: Ruth, how do you view it?

RUTH MARCUS, Columnist, The Washington Post: Well, you asked if it's the road not taken, the -- the road map.

And I think it's kind of the road not taken.

We have seen this road being not taken by Republican candidates and Republican elected officials for years now.

And that is because, in their perception, which is probably correct, it is not in their political self-interest to do that.

I do think one of the interesting political questions about Georgia involves Georgia itself.

There are very few battleground states in the 2024 election.

Georgia was close.

As Donald Trump kept pointing out, he only needed 11,900 and - - 780 votes to get across the finish line there.

I do wonder, since Governor Kemp won the state by a large margin, Donald Trump lost it to Joe Biden by a very small margin, if the impact of Georgia of might be in Georgia, rather than elsewhere.

GEOFF BENNETT: Meantime, Donald Trump is also planning to skip the first presidential debate that's scheduled for Wednesday, and is instead expected to sit for an online interview with Tucker Carlson, according to The New York Times and CNN.

David, what do you make of that decision?

And how might it affect the debate?

DAVID BROOKS: Well, he's saying, I'm bigger than the Republican Party.

The Republican Party wants its candidates to debate.

It's the normal thing to do.

But Donald Trump is no stranger to violating norms.

I do think, politically, if I were just a Machiavellian adviser to Trump, I'd say he's doing the right thing.

Why put himself out in Chris Christie's path if he doesn't need to?

I do think it will transform the debate.

Now it looks more like a debate of contenders vying with each other to see who gets to face off against the champ.

And so I would imagine that this will be a bad and tough night for Ron DeSantis.

The Trump -- the path to get to Trump leads through DeSantis.

So it seems to me that every other candidate on that stage is going to try to take down DeSantis and tell the donor class, tell the disaffected Republicans: I'm the guy, I took down DeSantis.

His day is over.

It's up to me.

And so I'm looking at it as sort of like the primaries to get to Trump, and, there, hopefully, somebody will emerge.

GEOFF BENNETT: In fact, Ron DeSantis said today, Ruth, without mentioning Donald Trump's name, he said, all Republican contenders owe it to the people to show up on that stage.

Donald Trump has made the point that Republicans know him, they know his record, and why should he share the stage with people who are polling in the single digits?

RUTH MARCUS: Well... GEOFF BENNETT: What are your expectations for Wednesday's debate?

RUTH MARCUS: Well, my hopes for Wednesday's debate are that Trump's absence allows for two things.

It allows for a little bit more talk about substance.

I know this sounds incredibly naive, but a little more talk about substance than we would have if Trump were there.

I also hope it allows one or two candidates to emerge from the pack and get their chance to shine.

I do want to potentially take issue with Machiavelli Brooks over there and say... (LAUGHTER) RUTH MARCUS: ... we have seen this -- we have this stunt from Donald Trump before.

He pulled it in January 2016, when there was a GOP debate in Iowa and he didn't turn up.

And guess what happened in the Iowa caucuses a few weeks later?

He lost to Ted Cruz, or at least the numbers said he lost to Ted Cruz.

I think he thought it was rigged.

And I wonder.

It is the smart thing to do when you're sitting on a lead not to befoul yourself by being -- exposing yourself to your competitors.

But it does make him look like a coward, as Chris Christie said.

And it does create that space that wouldn't have been there if Donald Trump were in the room for others, Vivek Ramaswamy, Tim Scott, to potentially emerge and become some serious challengers to him.

GEOFF BENNETT: Meantime, on the Democratic side, you have got Congressman Dean Phillips, who is on a media tour of late.

He was on this program last night begging for a prominent fellow Democrat to mount a primary challenge to Joe Biden.

He says that Democrats are saying they want not a coronation, but a competition.

Is that a widely held view, Ruth, or is Phillips here on a solo mission?

RUTH MARCUS: I don't know if it's a solo mission, but it's a -- it's not -- I'm not going to say kamikaze mission, but it's not a mission that's going to end with what he wants.

There are problems with Joe Biden's candidacy.

There are many Democrats behind the scenes and a few publicly who talk about his age, who talk about other problems with his candidacy.

But let's be serious.

I'm old enough to remember -- I'm sorry to say, I'm old enough to remember 1980 and what happened in the Democratic Party when it was riven by division.

And if somebody were to emerge and challenge Joe Biden at this stage in the campaign, him having decided to run, his vice president, who, if he didn't -- if he somehow chose not to run, if she were not the nominee, that would create some divisions within the demographics of the party.

I think the Democrats are going to war with what their -- what they view as their strongest candidate, and with good reason.

That's Joe Biden.

And I think, no matter what Dean Phillips says, that's the way it's going to be.

GEOFF BENNETT: David, what's your view?

And how might the Biden campaign turn his age into an asset?

DAVID BROOKS: Well, have him run a marathon.

(LAUGHTER) DAVID BROOKS: Have him do it.

I agree with Ruth that Phillips' idea that there's some mystery moderate governor the Democrats can turn to -- there's a lot of problems with Joe Biden running for reelection, his age primarily.

His approval ratings are low.

But any time you look at some alternative, whether it's the mystery moderate from the Midwest or Gavin Newsom or anybody else, things start unraveling really fast.

And so the Democrats are lucky, frankly, to have a candidate in Biden who has presided over an incredibly strong economic recovery, who has presided over pretty good international peacemaking efforts, both in Asia this week and also in Europe, and who I believe whose numbers will go up as inflation recedes, as it is.

And the strong job numbers are there.

And they're extremely lucky to have a candidate, frankly, who's not a member of what you would call the coastal elite.

And Joe Biden has -- sends off all the right cultural messages for moderate independent voters who don't have college degrees.

And Democrats are not grateful enough for what they have, in my view.

GEOFF BENNETT: David Brooks and Ruth Marcus, big thanks to you both.

Have a great weekend.

RUTH MARCUS: You too.

DAVID BROOKS: Thank you.