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 the optics only seem to get more, well, pathetic, Hutchinson was defiant. “You’re asking me about risk of embarrassment? People have risked their lives for the country,” Hutchinson said. “Am I supposed to worry about whether I’m going to be embarrassed in a contest, politically? I think our country is more important.”
Such righteousness is, on one level, admirable. Hutchinson is clearly running based on principle, not a thirst for power. Yet in the very near future, Hutchinson must stop. He must end his campaign and find another way to keep Trump from being elected in 2024. That most likely means endorsing the primary candidate he’s most closely aligned with, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley. He would be an extremely creditable surrogate and could be helpful behind the scenes. (Haley, it is clear, needs all the help she can get.)
But Hutchinson is not the only GOP candidate who should end their candidacy. After Iowa, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis should drop out. Even though he entered the campaign with arguably the most buzz behind Trump, his efforts have fallen flat. He may not be quite so clearly out of the race as Hutchinson, but he’s done. More important, Christie must also end his campaign. Christie has repeatedly said that if elected, Trump will endanger our country. If Christie truly believes that, he must drop out before the New Hampshire primary on Jan. 23 and get behind Haley, as well. (Iowa, technically the first contest, is predictably trending heavily toward Trump because of its strong evangelical voter contingent. But if Trump wins in both Iowa and New Hampshire, the primary campaign is as good as over.)
Ending campaigns is never easy, especially if candidates truly believe they have something left to offer. Knowing when to get out is always difficult. But it should actually not be that difficult for Hutchinson and Christie. The only thing worse than not being relevant in a race is nakedly seeking out relevance. Asa Hutchison gave it a good shot. He spoke out against Trump and stayed true to his values. He can still leave the race with his dignity intact — but he has only two weeks to do it.