We here at Y’all-itics aren’t gamblers. But if we were in Vegas, we would take the over on Governor Asa Hutchinson running for President.
ARKANSAS, USA — We are still weeks away from the November midterm, and yet plenty a politician is already thinking ahead to 2024. And get your popcorn ready for the drama that awaits Republicans.
Plenty of names have already been mentioned, from former President Donald Trump, to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Even our own Gov. Greg Abbott has been mentioned, though not as loudly.
And on our latest episode of Y’all-itics, one governor who’s leading next door to Texas strongly indicated to the Jasons that he will likely make a run for President.
One of the things that makes Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson different is that he hasn’t backed away from criticizing Trump. And Hutchinson bragged to us that he still got more than two-thirds of the primary vote the last time he ran for re-election, one reason he thinks he could win nationally.
“That’s 30% that voted against me in a primary and those are very loud voices. And so, you’ve got to endure loud voices. But I got 70% of the vote. That’s a pretty good victory. And I brought them into the fold. So, you can win,” the governor said on Y’all-itics. “And what is concerning is that so often a Republican leader will say I don’t want to cast this tough vote because I don’t want to have those loud voices all over me. I don’t want to cause a Republican primary. You’ve got to avoid that kind of thinking because you can win.”
Hutchinson has the resume to make a run.
President Reagan appointed him as a U.S. Attorney. He represented Arkansas in Congress and later served as head of the Drug Enforcement Agency. He even served as Under Secretary for Border & Transportation Security during the George W. Bush Administration. And he’s about to be term-limited out-of-office after eight years in his home state of Arkansas.
And while on Y’all-itics, the Republican was candid about how he would approach many issues, including gun violence.
“Limitations and restrictions are not the way out of this,” he told us.
The governor also talked about his vision for a secure border.
“I think it looks like a better entry/exit system, so we know people who’ve come in legally on their visa and are overstaying the visa, because about 40% of those that are illegally in America are visa overstays and so it’s that part of it as well as securing the border to a greater extent,” said Hutchinson.
And his approach to abortion law.
“I’ve really tried to study this issue and my first reaction to a national ban was negative simply because, for 40 years, I’ve advocated for this to be returned to the states,” he said.
Hutchinson has a few more months to make a decision, not just whether to run for the White House, but whether he can survive primary elections in today’s Republican party. He talks at length about this as well in our latest Y’all-itics.
Listen to the full episode now.
Cheers!