Dem
51
GOP
49
Make that former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson, not former assistant to Mark Meadows Cassidy Hutchinson. Pity, because someone famous for telling the truth would be quite a contrast with your generic politician. On the other hand, he is old enough (72) and she is not (25). Anyway, the former governor made his anouncement on ABC's This Week yesterday. Our first reaction was: "Can the former governor of small, backwater Southern state really be elected president?" Then we did some research and concluded: "Yes, it is possible." Hutchinson becomes the first non-Indian American to officially challenge Trump, joining Nikki Haley, and some irrelevant guy whose name we can't remember.
In his interview with ABC's Jonathan Karl, Hutchinson called for Trump to drop out. He said that he had respect for the criminal justice system and wanted to see the process to play out normally. Calling for Trump to drop out makes him stand out among the current and future candidates. That could be worth something if Trump fumbles.
The new candidate said that a large field was good for the party. Like in 2016, right? When a badly fragmented field allowed Trump to win the majority of the delegates with a decidedly minority fraction of the primary votes. We could be headed there again.
Hutchinson has had a long career in government. After getting a law degree from the University of Arkansas Law School, he became a U.S. attorney at 31, then the youngest one at the time. He ran for the U.S. Senate in 1986 and Arkansas attorney general in 1990 and lost both races, so he lowered his sights and got elected to the House in 1996, succeeding his brother Tim in AK-03, after Tim was elected to the Senate. In 1999, he was one of the managers in the impeachment of another fellow from Arkansas, Bill Clinton. In 2003, he served in George W. Bush's administration as head of the Drug Enforcement Administration and later other jobs. In 2006, he ran for governor of Arkansas and lost. Finally, in 2014, Hutchinson was elected governor and served two terms. In short, although he has no foreign policy experience, he does have a lot of government experience in many areas. For better or worse, he is also the least Trumpy of the major Republican candidates. If Trump becomes toxic this year, he stands to benefit the most.
What he also doesn't have is a national profile. And unlike the other governor of Arkansas who made it to the big chair, Hutchinson doesn't have enough charisma to charm the spots off a leopard. But if Trump gets damaged too much by multiple indictments, Ron DeSantis makes Al Gore look like a hail fellow well met, the Mikes opt out, and Republican voters look around for a solid conservative white man who is probably capable of being president, Hutchinson could get the nomination and maybe even win. This requires a lot of stars to align, but it is not impossible. (V)