These are heady times for Arkansas Republicans. Heady times and legislative supermajorities often lead to arrogance and overreach. Look at President Barack Obama's administration if you doubt that.
The same thing could happen in state government, Republicans fret and Democrats hope. I doubt that will happen, though.
Gov.-elect Asa Hutchinson's "overnight success" took decades and three statewide election losses to achieve. Hutchinson knows better than anyone how long this "sudden" victory took. He's the least likely public figure in Arkansas to get carried away. Consider him the designated driver of the GOP victory party.
He'll also be a battle-scarred veteran in a state Capitol full of rookies. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives, where he got in a yelling match with Newt Gingrich at least once that I know of. Then he was a high-ranking member of President George W. Bush's administration. He was often in the room when the president made crisis decisions.
Any man who can talk the survivalist group The Covenant, The Sword and The Arm of the Lord out of its compound when he was 34 years old can handle a GOP Legislature. And no governor we'll ever have will care less what a bunch of Johnny-come-lately out-of-state billionaire donors think.
Suppose somebody had the nerve or ignorance to call Asa Hutchinson a RINO -- Republican in name only -- or an Obama lackey. Now imagine Hutchinson staring back across the governor's desk and replying, "Oh really? And how many impeachment cases against a Democratic president of the United States have you managed?"
Hutchinson carried the state Republican banner for decades with neither hope nor fear. He could have quit politics after his 1986 U.S. Senate defeat -- or his 1990 defeat for attorney general, or his 2006 defeat for governor. No one would have blamed him.
Hutchinson's ultimate success doesn't just come from stubbornness, either. I still say Hutchinson should pay departing Gov. Mike Beebe tuition for what Beebe taught him in the election of 2006. Hutchinson, the supposed embodiment of Republican extremism to his enemies, was the image -- and often the substance -- of moderation in this year's race. Democrat Mike Ross was often accused of running as Mike Beebe Jr. That jest applies more to Hutchinson.
The Germans say defeat is a much better teacher than victory. If so, Asa Hutchinson is the best-schooled politician in Arkansas.
So the Republican Party of Arkansas has an unchallenged leader. That's the best defense against a split there is. Hutchinson is also a proven leader. If the state GOP was going to split, it could have come during the primaries. Hutchinson steered them through.
The governor-elect doesn't dictate to Republicans. He just knows how to handle them -- a rare skill. As I wrote earlier this year, Hutchinson's sometimes maddening refusal to take a definite stance on the state's private option health care plan proved to be a very shrewd move. That refusal to take sides kept his party together. No other person could have gotten elected as governor without taking a clear stand on the biggest public policy issue in Arkansas. I'm not sure Bill Clinton himself could have gotten away with that.
Now Hutchinson is going to have to take a stand. So this matter will get settled in the first session of the governor's first term. Hutchinson may come out against the private option. If he accepts it, though, any Republican can. Anyone wanting a future in Arkansas GOP politics would defy Hutchinson at his peril. Any Republican who catches heat for supporting the governor's position will find the Republican Party's best firewall in Hutchinson.
No, if the Republicans destroy themselves, it's more likely to be gradual. Term limits were imposed after self-serving corruption plagued the state Legislature. Eric Harris, a former state House member from Springdale, reminded me of that after the election. Now term limits have been greatly extended. The potential for long-serving lawmakers to dip into the public purse is back.
In another reality check, I called Sen. Jim Hendren, R-Gravette. He wasn't up for re-election this year, and I wanted his perspective on the lack of Democratic success in a big push in Benton County.
"The notion that as Benton County has grown, its political beliefs and values have changed just didn't happen," Hendren said. "If anything, it's alignment with the Republican Party has grown stronger."
We'll see how long that lasts, but for now at least, the notion that growth and diversity always favors Democrats just suffered a serious setback.
DOUG THOMPSON IS A POLITICAL REPORTER AND COLUMNIST FOR NWA MEDIA.
Commentary on 11/09/2014