Let the Asa Hutchinson boomlet begin. The former two-term Arkansas Governor officially entered the fray for the GOP nomination for president on a show that maybe five Republicans in the country actually watch on a Sunday morning – This Week w/Jonathan Karl. With his announcement, however, the field officially expands from three to four, and as with any contender, this column is to list the pros and cons without fear or favor, so that when the debates happen, you know who’s on the stage and what you might expect to hear from others as they duke it out for the chance to be president.
The case for Asa Hutchinson for president
He was a successful two-term governor. If there is a biggest argument for him to make for the nod, it’s that he ran a state for eight years with very little drama, and done so largely in a conservative manner. He’s got legislative experience as a former Congressman, executive experience as a governor, and he served in the Bush administration in 2001 as DEA Administrator. Competency in doing the job will not be a problem for him.
He’s a former U.S. attorney and has a pretty extensive legal background, so judicial appointments would be something he would list as a strong suit.
His time at DEA compared to what we’re seeing now on the border with fentanyl and other drugs streaming across the border would probably be something he’d put right up there at the top of his priority list. The situation on our southern border is untenable, and Hutchinson well knows that and would implement changes immediately.
During his tenure in Arkansas, the death penalty was put back into use. He’s always been a law and order guy, so expect to see a lot of new faces at the Department of Justice, which is sorely needed in this country.
He ran a scandal-free administration. There are always policy disputes, some of which will be listed below, but his personal conduct or how he comported himself in office was never controversial. He would be a steady hand at the tiller.
Foreign policy is a little unclear, except after the 2015 Paris bombings, Hutchinson banned Syrian nationals from entering Arkansas. More will need to be learned about his stance on Russia/Ukraine, Iran, and how to handle China, but he’s got a reputation for being a national security first type of politician, something that’s been desperately needed ever since Joe Bidenopoulos took the oath.
The case against Asa Hutchinson for president
If there is a Liz Cheney lane that’s still in existence within the Republican Party for the nomination, Asa would fill it. And in case you miss the sarcasm, there is not that lane in this cycle. Hutchinson is a Never Trumper. Lots of people that will be voting in this cycle for who the GOP nominee will be are Never Trump. But alienating that entire wing of voters doesn’t seem like a plausible path to the nomination. To paraphrase the late Richard Nixon talking about the far right, you can’t win with only the far right, and you can’t win without them. Hutchinson goes into any nominating caucus or primary as a non-starter with at least 40% of the voting base that either will only accept Trump or not vote at all, or will vote Trump if he’s on the ballot.
His successor as governor of Arkansas, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, already has more of a legacy in her first month than Hutchinson had in eight years, signing into law Arizona-style backpack school choice legislation. Hutchinson does have bills he signed where he took a stand, like on a pro-life bill banning abortion in Arkansas were Roe overturned. But he also sent mixed signals on other hot button issues in a very short period of time. In March of 2021, he signed a bill that would allow doctors not to treat LGTB-related issues if there was a moral objection by the doctor. Yet a month later, when the Arkansas legislature handed him a bill banning gender-affirming treatments or surgeries on minors, which is a widely-held view amongst the Republican primary electorate, he vetoed that, saying it went too far. His veto was overturned because he was so out of step with his own party and state.
Money – Not sure who and how he will fundraise in order to get the air time necessary to compete for attention, because on a debate stage, he will get totally passed over by the Trump-DeSantis show. Unless he sheds his no drama persona and immediately goes into attack dog mode, he simply will not have enough oxygen on a stage to stand out and differentiate between other candidates. The no drama vibe might work in a general election against a very radical and addled Joe Biden, but he simply won’t get that far. He’s got to figure out how to navigate the minefield of a primary first, and being the calmest voice on stage isn’t the likeliest winning strategy.
He’s 72. He certainly would not be the oldest person in the room, but if there is a mood in the electorate that after Trump being well into his 70s and Joe Biden now in his 80s that a youth movement is what’s called for, Hutchinson might get collected up in that. He’s also a fairly low energy guy at 72. Hard to see how he’ll do when you have to travel and campaign 3-4 times a day, 7 days a week.
The old analysis of candidates goes something like this. You’re running because you’ve either convinced yourself you can win outright, you’re termed out of whatever job you had, and you’re auditioning for a slot in the cabinet of whoever wins next, you’re trying to build your brand and marketability for a future run after this trial run, or you’re there to audition to be vice president. He’s too old to be doing this as a trial run, and he honestly is a pretty smart guy. I’m sure he’s not delusional enough to think he’s going to win the nomination. So he’s either running to be AG or VP, and will have to answer why he’s really in this race in a convincing manner, because quite simply, very few people in the Republican Party currently think this is a serious candidacy.
He’s also a little wishy-washy on the COVID vaccines. He signed legislation banning mask requirements, but later publicly regretted doing so. In December of 2021, he praised Biden’s push for vaccines and for depoliticizing the federal COVID response. Yet in January of 2022, he reversed himself, calling for large corporations to ignore reinstituted Biden COVID mandates. Critics will accuse him of letting his Trump Derangement Syndrome knock him off his game for a bit.
We are nowhere near done with the GOP field with the entry of Asa Hutchinson. Brian Kemp of Georgia has definitely said he’s out, as has former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan. And Ted Cruz seems to be downplaying whether he’ll run this cycle. But South Carolina Senator Tim Scott is on deck to make a decision soon to get in, as will Mike Pompeo, Mike Pence, Ron DeSantis, Chris Christie, Chris Sununu, and probably a few other surprises too.
