Asa Hutchinson’s sad attempt at a moderate campaign
Hudson Crozier
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Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, a GOP presidential primary candidate, appeared on The Bulwark Podcast yesterday to repeat the Left’s viral hoax about Florida’s new history standards for schools.
“The whole language acts like there’s some benefit to slavery, and that is impossible,” said Hutchinson. “It is wrong. That should never be conveyed in a textbook or in a lesson. So, it’s just flat-out wrong.”
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Hutchinson probably gets his news from mainstream liberal outlets, which have drawn attention to a sentence that reads, “Instruction includes how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.” This is historically factual, just like the numerous other passages that cover the horrific conditions and immorality of slavery.
Other historical texts and teaching materials, including AP Black History standards the Left has championed, have very similar passages. They are not controversial because Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s administration did not write them, and there is no political opportunity in lying about them. In short, the idea that Florida wants to “whitewash” history to advance a racist agenda has been debunked six ways from Sunday.
Hutchinson carried on nonetheless.
“It’s like taking us back to the ’50s or the Jim Crow days, and that’s the wrong direction for America,” he said. “It is critically important that our young people understand what happened in the civil rights movement, what happened in the oppression of African-Americans all across the country during the days of Jim Crow.”
With these mindlessly stale and unoriginal comments, Hutchinson continues to position himself as “the conservative that liberals might like” ahead of 2024. His “moderate” stance on transgender procedures for minors has earned him sympathetic liberal media coverage.
Just like banning child sex changes, DeSantis’s approach to education is hugely popular among conservatives. Hutchinson takes a huge electoral risk by attacking it.
In exchange for losing conservative votes, he isn’t just trying to appeal to reasonable independents. He is catering to the most stubbornly partisan factions of the Left and irrational Twitter users who need to touch grass. These people believe the GOP is a white supremacist organization pushing a grand scheme to take away black people’s rights. They’re not going to vote for a Republican if he does or says a handful of things they like.
That approach leaves Hutchinson with almost nothing. He has a net approval of two among Democrats, according to Morning Consult. He has consistently held a single-digit position in GOP primary polls and attracted as few as six attendees at campaign events. That’s right, six, total.
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In a weak attempt to be liked by every side, almost no one likes Hutchinson. He is a case study on how not to run as a Republican and the ineffectual brand of conservatism that most of the right wants to move on from.
Hudson Crozier is a summer 2023 Washington Examiner fellow.