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Hutchinson keeps running
Presidential candidate and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson stops in Mt. Pleasant
MT. PLEASANT — As part of a 17-county tour, former Arkansas Governor and current 2024 Republican presidential candidate Asa Hutchinson stopped by The Pressbox in Mt. Pleasant for lunch Friday, Dec. 1.
Despite seven major polls reporting Hutchinson under 1% nationally, with NBC and FiveThirtyEight reporting his numbers for Iowa between 0.2-0.3%, Hutchinson hit counties in Iowa hard the second half of November leading into December.
“Yes, I'm in single digits and Trump is high,” Hutchinson stated.
Hutchinson stated that he doesn’t put much weight on poll numbers, but that his team is still traversing Iowa leading up to the caucuses next month.
According to Hutchinson, even before this 17-county tour, he made his rounds to 16 other counties in Iowa the week before Thanksgiving. He hopes to use these visits to ensure voters in Iowa know his name is on the ballot and why he thinks he stands out from the competition.
While his poll numbers are low, the small crowd of people in the Pressbox for lunch that afternoon did state they had heard of him, though all said they had minimal interest in politics overall.
“What about politics intrigues you the most and keeps you going?” former athletic trainer Nancy Stevens asked Hutchinson when he stopped by her table. “It has to be one of the toughest professions to stay in because of the criticisms you get no matter what you do.”
“I do it for the difference it makes in people’s lives,” Hutchinson responded. “It is tough. It’s not for the meek and mild. It’s also an inconsistent path. You’re up and you’re down. You win, you lose.”
Stevens compared politics to being like a football coach, “You have to rely on 18-year-olds for you future.”
“It’s true,” Hutchinson said. “And I have to rely on the good sense of voters.”
Hutchinson wants to appeal to those senses in voters by giving them a chance to understand who he is and why he stands out from other candidates.
“What differentiates me from the other candidates is the breadth of experience I have,” Hutchinson said.
Hutchinson’s experience in public service began when President Ronald Reagan appointed him as the youngest U.S. Attorney in the nation for the Western District of Arkansas.
His experience also includes serving for three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, when former President George W. Bush appointed Hutchinson to serve as Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration, and then the nation’s first Undersecretary of Homeland Security for Border Protection.
“People talk about border security; I’ve actually got experience,” he said. “That was my responsibility for the administration. Most recently, of course, as governor I have sent National Guard troops there to support [Texas] Gov. [Greg] Abbott’s efforts.”
Sharing his opinion on how to handle the border, Hutchinson said the key is partnership with the states.
“What’s crazy to me is that Gov. Abbott put in a water barrier and President Biden sues Gov. Abbott saying he doesn’t have authority to do that,” he said. “I would have said to my Border Patrol, ‘Why didn’t you think of this idea?’”
Hutchinson theorized that if he were in the same situation, he would bring in Gov. Abbott and the Democratic governors to work together.
His goals for border security would also include strengthening the Border Patrol with resources and enforcing the infrastructure of the physical wall.
From his time working with border security and as head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Hutchinson says he understands the fentanyl crisis in America.
“I understand what it takes to reduce the supply of fentanyl coming into our country, but also emphasizing the addiction services that are needed, as well as education and prevention efforts, and so that breadth of background distinguishes me,” Hutchinson said.
Another area of focus for Hutchinson is the economy.
“I’ve been governor,” he said. “I’ve balanced the budget and that is key to a good economy. I created a surplus. I lowered taxes, and we reduced the size of the government by 3,000 workers. We grew 100,000 jobs in the private sector.”
“I had a fundamental principle,” Hutchinson said. “I want the private sector of our economy to grow faster than the government sector, and that’s really important for a president to have that same principle.”
Furthermore, Hutchinson said that he would like to “reduce the nondefense federal [workforce] by 200,000 workers.”
While Hutchinson said others have goals to reduce the federal workforce more than his proposed 10%, he feels he has set a reasonable goal that his work as Governor of Arkansas has shown what he can accomplish.
When asked about the federal minimum wage, Hutchinson stated, “If you’re going to have a minimum wage, it needs to keep up.”
According to Hutchinson, minimum wage is “ … sort of an artificial assignment. It is never going to provide a living wage.”
“It was originally designed just to keep a bottom threshold of what is minimum, but minimum never works anymore,” he said.
Hutchinson gave an example of the minimum wage rising to $11 per hour in Arkansas, where he saw people lose their jobs due to the raise.
“Many of the fast food [chains] couldn’t afford to pay $11 an hour and so they actually went to more automation,” he said. “That’s the balance you have to achieve.”
As far as foreign policy is concerned, Hutchinson specifically stated that he supports Israel.
“We need to continue to support Israel,” he said. “We ought to have a couple of priorities there. One, destroy Hamas, avoid a broader regional war, and thirdly, rescue as many hostages as possible.”
“In my opinion, those are fundamental American goals in our national interest in reference to Israel,” Hutchinson said.
In addition to the more political ways Hutchinson feels he is set apart from his competitors, he listed his experience with agriculture as a 4-H member that grew up on a farm as a benefit for voters, especially those in Iowa.
“That is actually meaningful,” Hutchinson said. “I grew up on a farm and I have an understanding of American agriculture and that’s important to Iowa. Right now, we don’t have a farm bill passed by Congress. We need a president who knows how to push to get a farm bill passed and to help American agriculture.”
“So, being from a farm state with an ag economy that identifies with Iowa,” he said. “I understand the importance of navigation and getting our crops to the global market.”
As Hutchinson took the lunch hour to stop by a few tables throughout the Pressbox and introduce himself, he summed up exactly what he wants Iowans to know about him beyond his public record and experience.
“The best compliment that I had was from a farmer in Iowa,” he said. “I told him about myself and I asked him about himself and at the end he said, ‘Asa, you’re running for President of the United States and you seem normal.’ And that is who I am.”
“I think that is important,” Hutchinson said. “I think that we need a president that has a normal background but can do extraordinary things.”
Comments: AnnaMarie.Ward@southeastiowaunion.com
