The year is coming to an end, which means political reporters are scrambling to file their 2023 GOP primary wrap-ups. This recent Politico story about Asa Hutchinson caught my eye, however, because I honestly had forgotten the Arkansas Republican was still running.
The former governor was never afraid to speak his mind, and he was the first candidate to call Donald Trump unfit for office. While there was much pomp and circumstance around former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s entering the race to confront Trump, Hutchinson was out there criticizing the former president first. And, nearly a year before the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that Trump should be disqualified from holding the presidency under the Constitution’s insurrection clause, Hutchinson told ABC “This Week” co-anchor Jonathan Karl, “I think Jan. 6 really disqualifies [Trump] for the future.”
As the primaries plod on and Trump’s support only continues to grow, it’s clear there is no viable path for an anti-Trump candidate.
Hutchinson had a few more good moments, but as the primaries plod on and Trump’s support only continues to grow, it’s clear there is no viable path for an anti-Trump candidate. There is also no room for an old-school Republican like Hutchinson. After the 2016 election, the Republican Party became unrecognizable. Gone are the conservative principles of Ronald Reagan, “policies” are based on chaos and fear, and the will to govern has been mostly sucked out of Washington. No, this is not the party Hutchison once knew. And it shows.
Which brings things back to the Politico story. Hutchinson is, despite essentially insurmountable odds, still running for president and campaigning in New Hampshire. This is not so much a happy warrior as a man who still believes in public service. He has not let his Iowa polling numbers, currently hovering below 1%, or campaign stops consisting of a handful of people stop him. Asked why he persists in such a doomed endeavor when…
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