Hutchinson taking cues from Cheney

Former congresswoman Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., — the embodiment of courage, honesty and other virtues that MAGA Republicans have abandoned — has played an essential role as national truth-teller and conscientious objector in a party gone to war against democracy. Her role as vice chair of the House Jan. 6 select committee made her Enemy No. 1 in her party, almost certainly eliminating Cheney from realistic contention for president in the near future. However, a possible GOP successor has arrived on the scene. Former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson will make a formal announcement for president soon, but in an interview with Jonathan Karl on ABC News’ “This Week” that aired Sunday, Hutchinson announced, “I am going to be running.” The reason he is running for president, Hutchinson said, is that he is “convinced that people want leaders that appeal to the best of America and not simply appeal to our worst instincts.” Hutchinson said he believes that his “message of experience, of consistent conservatism, of hope for our future and solving problems that face Americans” will resonate with voters. The problem, as he no doubt is aware, might be that such a high-minded message does not yet resonate with a MAGA primary base still marinating in the toxic brew of right-wing media propaganda, conspiracy theories and white Christian nationalism.

Unlike other announced or likely contenders, Hutchinson does not offer himself as a vessel for Trumpism-without-Trump. Like Cheney, Hutchinson has denounced election denial, warned his party about threatening the FBI and slammed Republicans for abandoning Ukraine. And while Hutchinson stresses the need for border security, he urges Americans to be “compassionate and welcoming to legal immigration.” Also akin to Cheney, Hutchinson has not hesitated to denounce former president Donald Trump and his MAGA allies for white-nationalist associations. In his opposition to Trump, Hutchinson shouldn’t be confused with liberal-minded Republicans such as former Massachusetts governor Charlie Baker. Hutchinson favored the overturning of Roe v. Wade. A former head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, he is a strong opponent of marijuana legalization. He served for a time as the face of the National Rifle Association and championed tax cuts. He endorsed Republican Sarah Huckabee Sanders to succeed him as governor. In other words, he’s a staunch conservative. But that is the point: Hutchinson (like Cheney) stands for the proposition that one can differ sharply with Democrats on policy while defending fundamental principles such as the rule of law, the sanctity of elections, human rights, a free press and simple decency. Cheney warned her fellow Republicans, “There will come a day when President Trump is gone. But your dishonor will remain.” Hutchinson, honor intact, provides a model for a post-MAGA Republican Party, one not shackled to Trump or his mini-me imitators such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Hutchinson stands, so far, as the sole anti-Trump Republican in the 2024 field.

And yet, despite his conservative credentials, Hutchinson is not a reflexive ideologue. He cooperated with and praised President Biden’s response to the coronavirus, extended support for broadband expansion funded by legislation known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and vetoed a bill banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender children because it would create “new standards of legislative interference with physicians and parents as they deal with some of the most complex and sensitive matters involving young people.” (The veto was overridden.) Hutchinson is, in short, the sort of Republican opponent Democrats used to face — and to a large extent, still pine for. He’s a Republican with whom they can fight as a political opponent, not an enemy of democracy; a truth-teller not cowed by MAGA cultists; and a man susceptible to reason and open to compromise. That makes him, like Cheney, an anathema in some GOP circles.

Coverage of his candidacy will no doubt devolve into snide predictions of his unelectability. Sure, his “lane” might be a narrow bike lane in a party trafficking in crazy. However, much as dissents on the current Supreme Court stand as a rebuke to the right-wing majority, the Hutchinson-Cheney message serves to prick the conscience of Republicans who still have one — offering a reminder that they are not doomed to follow a narcissistic demagogue over the cliff. And just as today’s Supreme Court dissents become the foundation for tomorrow’s majority opinions, Hutchinson provides a stepping-stone to the revival of a saner, pro-democratic and responsible GOP. For that he deserves praise, not ridicule.