Catch Asa Hutchinson a leading candidate for the Republican nomination for governor, bemoaning Obamacare at a local Tea Party gathering last week.

He’s dancing just as fast as he can talk. The private option discussion begins at 25:54 (but Tea Party dialogue has a certain fascination generally throughout on immigration and such.)

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Hutchinson acknowledges that poor people will be “left out in the cold” if a plan isn’t enacted for Medicaid expansion. “It’s a serious problem,” he says. His solution: Repeal Obamacare at the federal level. The local level and the 100,000 already insured thanks to the private option? Crickets.

Leadership is needed from the next governor, is it not? Pivotal votes today and later this week. Does the GOP standard-bearer want the private option extended or not?

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PS — I’m confident the House will pass the private option, without Hutchinson’s intervention. And if he should be elected governor, he’ll be happy to have it in place for the extra money and economic stimulus it brings to the state. With help from Democrats, he’ll be able to rest easy in the knowledge that it can’t be easily knocked down, thanks to that crazy 75 percent vote rule.

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