DENVER \u2014 Roger Hutson was never a huge fan of Donald Trump.<\/p>\n
In 2016, he supported Marco Rubio for president<\/a>, helping raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for his Republican primary bid.<\/p>\n In 2024, Hutson worked with \u201cNo Labels,\u201d<\/a> a group of Democrats, Republicans and independents, to forge a bipartisan ticket with the express purpose of keeping either Trump or Joe Biden from winning the White House.<\/p>\n Is this \u201creally the best we can do in a country of 330 million people?\u201d Hutson asked in a Denver Post opinion piece<\/a> after the effort collapsed and another Trump-Biden matchup seemed inevitable. The failure, he suggested, was \u201ca sad commentary on the status of leadership in America.\u201d<\/p>\n But something unexpected happened over the last six months. Trump won Hutson over.<\/p>\n He\u2019s not gone full-fledged MAGA. \u201cNo, no, no!\u201d he insisted, scoffing at the notion of driving down the street, Trump flag waving. And he\u2019s not about to jump on JD Vance\u2019s political bandwagon<\/a>, the likeliest vehicle for extending Trumpism in 2028 and beyond<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m acknowledging the accomplishments of the man in the office,\u201d Hutson said, with emphasis on the White House\u2019s current occupant, whom he supported over Kamala Harris<\/a>. \u201cI\u2019m very impressed.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s not, as one might suppose, because the Denver oil and gas executive is enamored of Trump\u2019s exhortations to \u201cDrill, baby, drill! <\/a>(\u201cNo, baby, no!\u201d is more like it, as Hutson believes oversupply would drive prices down<\/a>.)<\/p>\n Rather, Hutson credits Trump with achieving a good deal of what he promised during the 2024 campaign.<\/p>\n Securing America\u2019s borders<\/a>. Forcing U.S. allies to cough up more for defense<\/a>. Bringing Iran\u2019s nuclear program to heel<\/a>. Taking on the country\u2019s unfair trade partners.<\/p>\n He still doesn\u2019t much care for Trump\u2019s abrasive personality<\/a>, the name-calling and denigrating of people.<\/p>\n But Hutson\u2019s conversion shows that in a country deeply dug into oppositional camps<\/a>, where political views appear cement-hardened into place, there are still those open to persuasion and even willing to change their minds.<\/p>\n As confounding as that might seem.<\/p>\n ::<\/p>\n Hutson, 65, was a Republican his whole life, until leaving the party sometime in the 2010s. Or, more precisely, he felt \u201cthe party left me.\u201d<\/p>\n A growing stridency around abortion and same-sex marriage<\/a> was particularly off-putting to Hutson, who describes himself as a conservative on fiscal issues and a live-and-let-live type on social matters. \u201cIf you\u2019re lucky enough in life to find somebody you love,\u201d he said, \u201cGod bless.\u201d<\/p>\n Hutson has long been active in civic and political affairs, serving on various boards and commissions under Democrats and Republicans alike. He recalled attending a meeting some years ago when GOP leaders gathered to discuss Colorado\u2019s increasingly blue coloration<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cIf winning means nominating an African American lesbian with antennae coming out of her head,\u201d then Republicans should do so, Hutson suggested.<\/p>\n That didn\u2019t go over well.<\/p>\n But it fit Hutson\u2019s approach to politics.<\/p>\n He grew up an Army brat, moving around the world until his father completed his military career and settled in Golden, Colo., to take a job at a family lumber business. For all the impermanence \u2014 packing up and relocating just about every two years \u2014 Hutson said his upbringing was in many ways ideal, shaping his outlook to this day.<\/p>\n The military, he said, reflects the best of America: unity, shared purpose, teamwork. \u201cI think it teaches you a lot of tolerance,\u201d he said. \u201cI think it teaches you a lot of acceptance.\u201d<\/p>\n His GOP pedigree came from his father, the Army colonel. But it wasn\u2019t the scorched-earth version of today\u2019s Republican Party, in which Democrats and their philosophy are regarded as the root of all evil<\/a>.<\/p>\n Long ago, as leader of the Jefferson County Republican Men\u2019s Club, Hutson invited Colorado\u2019s governor, Democrat Roy Romer<\/a>, to speak.<\/p>\n \u201cI was catching such hell from people. \u2018How dare you invite a Democrat to speak to this group?\u2019 \u201d Hutson remembered being chastised. \u201cAnd I said, \u2018Well, he\u2019s our governor, isn\u2019t he? I think it\u2019d be an honor.\u2019 \u201c<\/p>\n After some initial puzzlement from the governor\u2019s office \u2014 are you sure? \u2014 Romer came and spoke, holding just the kind of cross-party conversation that Hutson wishes occurred more often among politicians in worlds-apart Washington.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d love for Trump to have a weekly meeting with [Democratic House leader] Hakeem Jeffries<\/a>,\u201d Hutson said as he sat high above downtown Denver, his office decor \u2014 dark leather, rugged mountain landscape, a display of amber liquids \u2014 suggesting a Western cigar bar theme.<\/p>\n \u201cI would love for Trump to sit down weekly with [Chuck] Schumer\u201d \u2014 the Democratic Senate leader \u2014 or bring Schumer and the GOP Senate leader, John Thune, together and say, \u201d \u2018How do we work our way through this?\u2019 \u201c<\/p>\n Could you imagine that, Hutson asked, before answering his own question.<\/p>\n Nope. Never gonna happen.<\/p>\n ::<\/p>\n Nothing, and no individual, is perfect. But Hutson looks to the bottom line, and he\u2019s willing to accept trade-offs.<\/p>\n Trump is loud and uncouth. But he\u2019s respected on the world stage<\/a>, Hutson said, in a way the shuffling Biden<\/a> was not.<\/p>\n Trump may be toying with tariffs \u2014 up, down, all around<\/a>. But at least he\u2019s addressing the country\u2019s one-sided trade relationships in a way, Hutson said, no president has before.<\/p>\n He may be off base calling for a drastic ramp-up of domestic oil production. But in general, Hutson said, Trump\u2019s welcoming message to business is, \u201cWhat can we do to be more helpful?\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s unfortunate that innocents are being swept up in mass immigration raids<\/a>. But maybe that wouldn\u2019t have happened, Hutson said, if local officials had been more cooperative <\/a>and criminal elements weren\u2019t allowed to insinuate themselves so deeply into their communities in the first place.<\/p>\n Besides, he said, haven\u2019t Democrats and Republicans both said a secure border and tougher enforcement is needed before comprehensively overhauling the nation\u2019s fouled-up immigration system<\/a>?<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to bring in the workers we need,\u201d Hutson said. \u201cI mean, if somebody\u2019s coming here to work and be a meaningful part of society, God bless, man.\u201d<\/p>\n Not perfect. But, all in all, a better and stronger presidential performance, Hutson suggested, than many with their blind hatred of Trump<\/a> can see, or are willing to acknowledge.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve got to look at the results,\u201d Hutson said, \u201cand despite his caustic attitude and behavior, I think he\u2019s done a really, really good job.\u201d<\/p>\n When Barack Obama was elected president<\/a>, Hutson recalled, one of his Democratic friends, a Black man, said to him,\u00a0 \u201d \u2018Roger, you\u2019ve got a Black president.\u2019 And I said, \u2018You know, Kevin, you\u2019re right. And he\u2019s my president, just like he\u2019s your president.<\/p>\n \u201d \u2018We don\u2019t have to agree on everything but, by God, he\u2019s the president of the United States and we respect that office.\u2019 \u201c<\/p>\n Hutson paused. His eyes narrowed, disapprovingly. \u201cWe\u2019ve lost that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Mark Z. Barabak is a political columnist for the Los Angeles Times, focusing on California and the West. \u00a92025 Los Angeles Times. Visit at latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.<\/em><\/p>\n Sign up for Sound Off to get a weekly roundup of our columns, editorials and more. <\/a><\/em><\/p>\n To send a letter to the editor about this article, submit online<\/a> or check out our guidelines<\/a> for how to submit by email or mail.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" DENVER \u2014 Roger Hutson was never a huge fan of Donald Trump. In 2016, he supported Marco Rubio for president, helping raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for his Republican primary bid. In 2024, Hutson worked with \u201cNo Labels,\u201d a group of Democrats, Republicans and independents, to forge a bipartisan ticket with the express purpose […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":364,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-362","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cartoons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/derinklastom.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/derinklastom.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/derinklastom.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/derinklastom.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/derinklastom.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=362"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/derinklastom.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":363,"href":"https:\/\/derinklastom.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362\/revisions\/363"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/derinklastom.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/364"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/derinklastom.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=362"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/derinklastom.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=362"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/derinklastom.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=362"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}