Former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson drove across Iowa in blizzard conditions Friday seeking to drum up support for his campaign in the final days before the caucuses, but had to improvise and phone supporters one at a time.
Hutchinson hasn’t caught fire in the polls, despite a deep resume as a former House member, governor, and Bush administration official. When a bad storm system brought snow and howling winds, he kept what he could from his schedule and junked the rest.
‘Oh yeah we got four wheel we’re, good,’ he told DailyMail.com from the road as he made his way from Cedar Rapids to Des Moines. ‘They’re slick, but we’re doing it,’ he said of the state roads.
On Friday he did a TV broadcast interview, then planned an event with supporters.
‘But the restaurant where we were having it shut down for the evening. So we had to ditch that. So I’ve been on the road … making calls to caucus goers,’ he said. ‘So that it’s been very beneficial. And so the people that couldn’t go to the Iowa City event, I just wound up calling many of them. And calling other supporters around the state and identifying the caucus goers.’
On the road: Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson drove to events throughout Iowa despite a blizzard blanketing the state. He reached out to supporters by phone
‘Nothing’s as good as being there in person and answering more questions and having more interaction. But you deal with the weather as it comes and you adjust,’ he said.’
Hutchinson is below 1 per cent in the RealClearPolitics average, despite having a background that could appeal to Iowans. He grew up on a farm and served as a governor of a fellow rural state.
He recently picked up the endorsement of the Storm Lake Times newspaper, brandishing it online. It said he ‘knows cotton from corn’ and checks all the GOP boxes save one: ‘fealty to a traitorous Trump.’
‘I’m the only candidate that’s campaigning in Iowa that hasn’t promised a pardon to Donald Trump. That is amazing,’ said Hutchinson, who once served as a House impeachment manager during Bill Clinton’s Senate trial.
‘That anybody would promise any pardons during a political campaign to get votes, It’s wrong,’ he said.
Buckle up! He flashed a shot of the road conditions he contended with driving across the state
Shelter from the storm: Former President Donald Trump plans to return to Iowa Saturday after scrubbing a Saturday night rally. Hutchinson highlights his role as the only rival who hasn’t committed to pardoning Trump
Ron DeSantis held one campaign event then improvised another, but cancelled later scheduled appearances
Hutchinson didn’t meet requirements to make it on the debate stage Wednesday, nor did he qualify for an upcoming New Hampshire debate
‘I’m not making those kind of commitments during the campaign,’ he said.
‘If Trump is our nominee we’re going to be saddled with an albatross around our neck,’ he predicted, with pre-caucus polls showing Trump topping 50 per cent.
He blasted Trump for calling January 6 defendants ‘patriots’ and condemned House leaders who echoed Trump calling them ‘hostages.’
‘That kind of misleading rhetoric will be the death knell of the Republican Party if we do not move away from it,’ he said.
Asked about Chris Christie, who dramatically dropped out of the race Wednesday, Hutchinson said of Christie, ‘clearly, he didn’t see a path to win. I’m sure he was getting some pressure from his donors.’ He said the two men haven’t spoken since Christie suspended his campaign in New Hampshire.
‘I’m in a different position,’ he said. ‘I made a decision to campaign in both places. And, you know, I’ve been as clear as he or anyone on the risk of Donald Trump.’ He also said his own campaign is about more than going after Trump.
Christie, who got compared to Don Quixote in a recent New York Times story, has already bought a ticket to New Hampshire, and says he’ll campaign there. He is running his campaing on a relative shoestring, raising just over $1 million through September and spending most of it.
Hutchinson posted a video of himself in his SUV while en route to Cedar rapids, accompanied by a single campaign aide named Ed where he gave supporters a glimpse of the snow accumulating outside. ‘Ya’ll have a great day and be safe,’ he said, in a post that got 123 likes and 15 retweets seven hours after he published it.
He declined to fault Trump for staying in West Palm Beach while Iowa battled the storm. (Trump later suspended Saturday events and announced ‘telerallies’ with a plan to return to the state Saturday night).
‘I’ll let him call his own shots for his campaign. I’m sure he’s got a number of court appearances he needs to prepare for,’ quipped Hutchinson.