Short takes: Asa’s run; Sarah’s ‘koozie’: a 5-4, no to UPhoenix

Yes, this past week was chock full of political stories — all seemingly tied directly to Northwest Arkansas.

It was both cheers and jeers for these big three with several other items well worth mentioning as we greet the May flowers and hopefully end the April rains.

The 2024 presidential run of Asa Hutchinson kicked off in Bentonville on Wednesday last week.

And, yes, Bentonville and the granite steps and façade of the Benton County Courthouse was where in 1985, a gangly, young and equally brash young man announced a run for the United States Senate seat against Dale Bumpers.

It was a crushing defeat but netted Asa a U.S. attorney position in Fort Smith under the Reagan Administration. The newly minted attorney, he was also the Bentonville city attorney prior to throwing his political hat into the ring.

A crowd of 400 showed up in his adoptive hometown. Asa actually grew up in Springdale and is a Springdale High graduate, with copious time spent in western Benton County.

He got some nice national coverage, blindsided only by his nephew, former state Sen. Jeremy Hutchinson’s second federal sentencing in Missouri being announced the day prior. This Hutchinson won’t be voting for his uncle in November, while serving time in a federal lockup.

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Also not at the announcement and perhaps ducking most of the press and cameras is our Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

First off, she really doesn’t support Asa’s candidacy over her former boss, the former President Donald John Trump. So, ducking out on the Asa announcement was good cover for her.

She needs a little more press coverage for her latest “dust up” in the press over trying to continually raise campaign funds for her next re-election bid (or a larger office bid, whichever comes first). Her staff and “advisers” came up with a ‘Real Women” advertisement trying to capitalize on the Bud

Light controversy of a female impersonator hawking their beer brand.

Sure enough, our tough as nails governor, fresh from a very light scrabble in a legislative session, went out of her way and took to the air with a TV commercial that sadly has been put together with fake people, even a fake military soldier and some silly slogan — all designed to make the beer drinking public rush to her campaign web store and purchase a beer koozie with her face and the phrase “real women” on it.

Her dad, a Southern Baptist preacher and former Arkansas governor, should be outraged. But he is not.

He’s actually proud of his only daughter although he disdains in no particular order (A) beer drinking, (B) trans folk, (C) fake military folk posing in a political ad and (D) anyone who picks on Sarah. Will she raise money?

Hell, yeah.

Will she take down the ad and apologize for raising more campaign funds while on the public dole as governor?

Hell, no.

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And lastly did the 5-4 vote of the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees save a half-billion-dollar waste of funds from the flagship university?

Probably.

But mostly it signaled that the University system President Donald Bobbitt, while possibly on the cutting edge of the future, misread his board (again).

Bobbitt, who sits on the UA’s Cammack campus in

Little Rock, certainly misread UA faculty, staff and alumnae’s signals on choosing the next chancellor for the flagship campus.

This latest 5-4 split, with one member having to take a pass ethically in the vote to merge with the online University of Phoenix in a three-way conglomerate to promote online education on the University of Arkansas’ sound academic name, was a deal that should have never been attempted.

The major question: If it is such a good deal, why are so many other college systems across America passing it by?