I was fortunate to run into former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson multiple times during my recent trip to the Iowa caucuses. I give him a lot of credit for being incredibly congenial (and chatting with several of my student) and for seeing through a presidential nomination contest that was clearly not going his way.

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At any rate, I recently reached out to him to ask him about his experiences as a 2024 presidential candidate. We talked about a number of different things, including changes in the Republican Party over the past decade, how much those changes are just about Donald Trump, how changes in the party today mirror what was going during Ronald Reagan’s takeover between 1976 and 1980, and things Hutchinson and other candidates might have done differently over the past year. I hope you’ll find this interesting. I did.

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The beginning of March will see more than a dozen Republican primaries and caucuses, through which Donald Trump could effectively secure the presidential nomination. It may also see the opening of the first of four criminal cases against the former president. Should the criminal justice system be working more quickly in this environment — both because a criminal conviction or acquittal would be important to primary and general election voters, and because Trump could have pardon power next year? Or would speeding things up be a miscarriage of justice?

To address these and other questions, I speak to Professor Sam Kamin of the University of Denver’s Sturm College of Law. We cover a lot of ground, and particularly dig into the question of whether the political or legal system has done a worse job of constraining Trump’s most anti-democratic tendencies.

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I’m planning to do several podcast episodes in the run-up to the caucuses and primaries that start next month. The first one is a conversation that Julia Azari and I recently had in which we discuss McKay Coppins’ book Romney: A Reckoning. We discuss a lot in there, including what Romney’s career tells us about the Republican Party over the past decade, what authenticity is, how anti-Trumpers tried to prevent Trump’s nomination in 2016, whose careers have been the most affected by Trump, and more. I hope you enjoy the discussion!

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This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit smotus.substack.com/subscribe

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit smotus.substack.com/subscribe