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Bumpers race was first encounter with Asa Sunday, Apr 23, 2006 By Dennis Byrd It was about this time of year in 1986 when a lanky lawyer from Fort Smith sat across the editor's desk from me to pitch his candidacy for the U.S. Senate. There's a chance I may have been rude to him; at the very least I had little patience with anyone who thought he would be a better senator than Dale Bumpers, one of the best speechmakers in Senate history and a principled man with the "it" factor that some folks call charisma. Asa Hutchinson tried to make his case, but I honestly wasn't listening. Bumpers had a reputation that I admired; what I knew about Hutchinson - precious little, I realize now - I found suspect. I kept asking about his experience at Bob Jones University and whether he thought he had gotten a good education - or a proper education - at a school that discriminated against most folks who didn't look like him or believe the same things he believed. I'm sure it never happens with columnists or editors nowadays, but looking back I can say that I pretty much had my mind made up about him before he ever entered the room. The next day's editorial was an endorsement of Bumpers, which went on to encourage the senator to run for president in 1988, and endorsed him in that race if only he would say he was running. And, I probably had a couple of negative things to say about his Senate opponent - that Hutchinson guy. Well, the same Hutchinson guy is now running for governor as an unopposed Republican nominee in a state that has elected a Republican governor - Mike Huckabee - twice since he ascended to the job in 1996 when Democrat Jim Guy Tucker resigned. Two years after the across-the-desk encounter, Hutchinson stood off to one side as he awaited the arrival of Pat Robertson, who was visiting Little Rock in his failed quest to become the Republican nominee for president of the United States. I had relinquished my role as editor for one as writer for the world's largest news gathering organization, The Associated Press, and was assigned to cover Robertson's first visit and only visit to Arkansas as a candidate. I approached Hutchinson and began my reintroduction with, "You probably don't remember me, ..." He stopped me in midsentence. "Oh, yes, I remember you," he said matter-of-factly as he glared at me. "You're the first guy who endorsed my opponent." Ouch. Hutchinson went on to distinguish himself as perhaps the most effective chairman ever of the state Republican Party. He was elected to Congress when his brother, Tim, gave up his 3rd District seat to run successfully for the U.S. Senate, then went to work in the Bush administration as head of the Drug Enforcement Administration and later as an undersecretary in the new Department of Homeland Security. It goes to show that because you fail at something early in a career, it doesn't mean you won't be successful. That's quite a resume. Occasionally, I run into Hutchinson at an event. I've come to like him. But, it never fails that when he sees me he always points out to anyone in earshot that I was the first guy to endorse his opponent when he first ran for political office. We all have a good laugh and that's that. Now, the time likely will come again this year when Hutchinson will sit across the table from me and before an editorial board that will decide whether to endorse him, his Democratic opponent, Attorney General Mike Beebe, or no one at all. There's no way to tell how that will come out. But Hutchinson can rest assured he will get a fairer shake this time around. I think that will be all he will expect. Just the same, he's probably glad Dale Bumpers is retired. ----- Dennis A. Byrd is chief of the Arkansas News Bureau in Little Rock. His e-mail address is dbyrd@arkansasnews.com. |
