The leading Republican presidential hopefuls have spent the weeks since their first debate provoking each other, with distant taunts and tweeted insults.

And now CNN, which hosts the second candidate clash here Wednesday night, is aiming to capture that same combative spirit by getting the candidates to engage with one another in person and on camera.

The effort to encourage candidate interaction differs from the approach taken in the first debate by Fox News, which relied heavily on its three accomplished moderators to ask tough questions, forcing the participants to outline their positions and explain their records, yielding only a handful of memorable exchanges between the men on stage.

Fox News drew praise for its handling of the event — along with a record number of viewers— but CNN’s team of producers and moderators said they were looking to establish a different tempo and to emphasize candidate interaction above all else.

“My goal is more about: Let’s draw the contrasts between the candidates, and have them fight it out over these policies, over who has the best approach to Putin, over who has the best approach to taxes, over who believes what over immigration reform,” said Jake Tapper, CNN’s chief Washington correspondent, who is moderating Wednesday’s debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. “Have them lay it all out so voters can see it.”

Read the article “CNN’s GOP Debate Strategy: Let Candidates ‘Fight it Out’” on nytimes.com.