Sununu Talks 2024 at Tuck School

The 2024 presidential election is over a year and a half away, but campaigns for the two major party nominations are already underway. For the Democrats, the contest is likely a foregone conclusion, as Joe Biden seems almost assured to be the Democratic nominee. Given the support of most of the party electorate and the near-total allegiance of the power brokers within the Democratic establishment, he will almost certainly beat spirited challengers like RFK Jr., despite concerns over his health and acuity. The Republican primary, however, is much less certain. Former President Donald Trump would seem to be the frontrunner, even more so given that he commands the almost unwavering support of much of the Republican base, but he faces challengers from across the conservative spectrum. 

By now most are familiar with Ron DeSantis, Republican Governor of Florida and noted opponent of Disney, who recently announced his candidacy and who is often compared with Trump in primary polls. There are other challengers, too, including Vivek Ramaswamy, Ambassador Nikki Haley, Senator Tim Scott, and Larry Elder, who lost the 2021 California Gubernatorial Recall Election. Yet, the great state of New Hampshire may offer up yet another hopeful, our very own Governor Chris Sununu. While he has not yet announced his candidacy, the four-term governor of the Granite State has increasingly made allusions to presidential ambition and seems to be testing the waters ahead of a potential run. In this climate of anticipation, the Governor came to Dartmouth College on May 8 to speak on public service, our time of great discord, and his potential candidacy.

The Governor’s talk took the form of a question-and-answer session, with the Dean of the Tuck School of Business, Matthew J. Slaughter, hosting. The Dean began by asking Governor Sununu about his upbringing and how he came to public service. Interestingly, Sununu dismissed most any role his father may have played and focused instead on his mother’s service on his local school board and the inspiration which she provided to him. 

Sununu then shifted smoothly to his work in the private sector with several environmental-engineering nonprofits. He emphasized the experience his private sector work provided and argued that any elected official should have previous business experience, as the administrative skills and real-life knowledge that such work provides is vital to effectively and efficiently running a government. 

As the talk wore on, the Dean’s questions and Sununu’s answers shifted more and more towards a possible presidential run. Dean Slaughter prefaced these questions with the disclaimer that Sununu had not yet announced a campaign, but he proceeded to ask such questions as though Sununu’s campaign had already begun. Slaughter began by asking Sununu about his current poor polling figures, to which Sununu quipped that he had not yet entered the race and also questioned the figures’ source, The Washington Post, to substantial laughter. However, he seemed to at least take notice of the numbers invoked, as he responded energetically to the following question as to why voters should choose him over Donald Trump.             

Indeed, the overall question of “Why Sununu?” was at the core of the rest of the talk. The Governor began by touting his record of working across party lines and actually governing effectively. He often complimented Trump’s big-picture ideas, like “draining the swamp,” but harshly criticized Trump’s inability to obtain results. On draining the swamp, Sununu called for a decentralization of government and a return of power to the states. Clearly a strong proponent of federalism, he stated in effect that the government is not the solution to the problem, but rather government is itself the problem, borrowing a line from Reagan. He pointed to New Hampshire as a model for what he wants for the rest of the country, repeating the state’s “Live Free or Die” motto to stress his emphasis on individual freedom and responsibility. In something of a break from other Republicans, Sununu stated that liberal states should similarly be able to govern themselves, without excessive federal interference, as they, like individuals, know themselves better than the central government does. 

While strong in rhetoric and diction, Sununu’s answers were somewhat wanting in policy specifics. When asked about how he would reduce the deficit, he talked first about just how bad it is, reminding us once again of the danger of very big red numbers, and then said that spending can be reduced through greater “efficiency.” He did not go into many specifics as to where exactly this efficiency can be implemented but reminded the audience of his training as an engineer and his experience in optimizing systems. 

Sununu’s continued speaking in broad terms as in his answers to climate-change questions. Unlike some Republicans, the Governor believes in the existence of man-made climate change, but he held that ending the usage of fossil fuels is an unattainable goal. Instead, he said, our efforts should focus on innovation to find solutions to the symptoms of climate change and to create economically viable energy sources that can eventually substitute oil and coal. This was a very effective answer, although he then delved into a drawn-out comparison to the Netherlands, verbally gesturing at the “solution” the country had implemented to prevent flooding when a simple allusion to the nation’s dams and dykes would have sufficed. Before facing the blunt oration of Trump n the debate stage, the Governor may want to double down on the art of the one liner.

Perhaps the most commendable part of Sununu’s talk was his willingness to take tough political stances, even if they may ultimately hurt him should he decide to run for the Republican nomination. In the primary, his pro-choice stance will likely hurt him among a large swath of Republican voters. While the Governor did sign a bill that implemented some moderate abortion restrictions in New Hampshire, the Governor has by and large defended abortion against many more conservative members of his own party. In speaking on this topic, the Governor referred back to his state-based mentality, arguing that individual states have the right to decide whether or not abortion should be legal. How he would respond to certain states’ attempts to prevent their citizens from receiving abortions in other states was not addressed. 

Undoubtedly more controversial, though, was his stance on social security. Sununu directly stated that there have to be cuts to social security now, either in the form of benefit reductions or eligibility restrictions, in order to prevent massive cuts later. He dismissed the idea that social security is a third rail in politics, arguing that it has to be addressed now or the consequences will be far worse in the coming years. Whether Republican voters, not a young demographic by any means, will be able to stomach the possibility of social-security cuts under a Sununu administration is unclear. Indeed, Sununu’s realism may hurt him among an electorate that increasingly demands ever-more unrealistic promises from candidates. 

The last few questions saw the Dean return to big-picture questions, asking the Governor how he would appeal to young voters and what his parting message was to the crowd. In a challenge to the audience, Sununu said that young people have to stop asking the government to solve our problems for them. Instead, he said, young people should choose solutions that work for them and only ask that the state help provide opportunities. This message of independence rather than hand-holding, perhaps surprisingly, seemed to resonate to some degree with the youthful crowd. This was a good sign—for if Sununu receives the nomination, he will have to win a general election increasingly dominated by millennials and members of Generation Z. 

In his final remark, Sununu said that people have to give back, to “tithe your time,” and contribute to their community. This optimistic message of charity and selflessness may have been an important reminder to the audience of future finance bros and corporate lawyers, but it rests on the same underlying assumption that may give Sununu trouble if he does run for president. New Hampshire has done relatively well these past few years. The state’s economy weathered COVID and the ensuing inflation, and enough people are satisfied with Sununu’s leadership to have returned him to the Governor’s mansion by very comfortable margins. Yet, much of the rest of the country has not fared so well. People are increasingly poor, overworked, and hopeless. Many simply can’t give back because they have nothing left to give. They want handouts because, to them, it seems like handouts are the only way they can get by. Yes, welfare spending and government aid aren’t permanent solutions, but it is difficult for some to see the long term after four years of crisis and uncertainty. Democrats and perhaps some Republicans will attack Sununu’s realistic views on social security and social spending as detrimental to America’s struggling lower class. Likewise, more conservative Republicans will attack Sununu’s more reasoned stances on immigration and abortion as outdated in a country that they see as being overwhelmed by waves of undocumented immigrants and beset by, in their view, the moral evil of abortion. As Sununu looks beyond the city on a hill that is New Hampshire, he may find that a large number of voters now care less about freedom and opportunity and more about security and stability.