Sarah Huckabee Sanders has already made quite a splash in just the first quarter of her first year as governor of Arkansas, signing into law several reform measures, but none being so sweeping and important as a school choice bill very similar to the landmark Arizona backpack funding law. Sanders is well-rooted in Arkansas, both politically and personally, and is very well-connected. She knows a ton of people and players in the Razorback state, having grown up the daughter of former Governor Mike Huckabee. Nevertheless, there are nearly 250 of these types of posts that need appointments. That’s a lot of people. Sanders has implemented a layer in the screening process that had Twitter trending for a while on Wednesday, populated largely by left-wing fever swamp trolls and their transactional online allies, disillusioned-by-Trump ex-Republicans, dialing up the mockery and alarmism to eleven.

Gov. Sanders wants to know how much you like her before you can be on a state board or commission

So what was the source of all the online profane derision shown toward Governor Sanders? A couple of essay questions on page 3 of the 7-page online app.

I’ll set aside the political optics question of judgment for a bit and focus on what’s actually being done here, and why it’s brilliant. And no, I’m not applying for a post in Arkansas.

The first two pages of the application process are boilerplate. To what types of boards or commissions are you seeking to be appointed? What’s your name? Where do you live? Are you a voting Arkansan? Did you serve in the military? Pretty basic stuff. Page three is where we get to the essay section, and the subsequent wailing and gnashing of teeth from Trump haters and progressives.

I love that Sanders is bringing back the essay to the application process, being that a ton of colleges began doing away with the essay as part of their application process back in 2018. The 500-word essay is instructive on a whole host of issues. Is the applicant literate? Can the applicant think critically? Can the applicant communicate publicly in a fluid manner? Can the applicant complete a task? Can the applicant articulate themselves in a concise manner? These are all skill sets that one would think a governor is looking for in a potential candidate for a position that at least tangentially will reflect back on her.

As for the subject of the 500-word question — what’s your favorite accomplishment thus far — I know that’s the launch point for the derision and scorn, comparing it to Dear Leader stuff. I’ll get to that. Why is it brilliant? All administrations, and I mean all, are partisan. Do you think Joe Biden or his handlers don’t seek to glean whether potential appointees share the President’s vision and/or worldview before appointing them? Of course, they do. Republican administrations do it. Democratic administrations do it. They always have, and they always will. So this question in Arkansas is nothing more than putting into plain text what every administration, left or right, does as part of the vetting process. It’s just not that controversial. Every administration wants their appointees at all levels to be rowing their oars in roughly the same direction as the chief executive’s. It would stand to reason that every governor wants the same thing at the state and county level.

But what makes this question so fascinating to me is that it does two things, whether intentional or not. First, it weeds out the radicals. If you are on either political extreme, you’re going to end up taking yourself out of contention. If you’re a hyper-partisan lefty, you can’t name anything good you think Sanders has accomplished. Twitter is full of expletive-laced examples of what they’d put in that text box instead. Now I understand Twitter is not reality, but the point is that hard-core lefties are going to be so uncomfortable with that question that they might just decide it’s not worth the effort and seek employment elsewhere. And that’s a very good thing. Trolls are usually only trolls so long as it’s free. Once you have to pay to troll, their numbers go way down. And having to actually compose something coherent and submit it for review? Well, that’s a cost many trolls who might otherwise try to sneak into a cushy commission post may not be willing to pay. And extreme followers on the other side of the spectrum will be so over the top as to be considered stalkers, and they’ll take themselves out of contention.

Second, most normal people should see what she’s actually doing here, which is asking the potential candidate to look for the good in someone. That’s what’s really got Twitter so hopping mad, because political Twitter these days seems to be populated largely by hordes of people, many of them bots, that are either not happy people or programmed accounts to react negatively to everything. And being unhappy apparently makes them happy, or at the very minimum, so long as everyone around them is as miserable as they present themselves to be. What’s the expression – misery loves company? Sanders is not saying you have to be a Republican to apply. She’s not saying you have to have voted for her to be considered. She’s simply asking them to write coherently as to whether they can find the good in someone, even if they may not otherwise agree with them politically. Again, that’s a very good skill set to have in a governor-appointed position.

The offensive question is followed with this one, which is also getting a lot of negative reaction online.

Again, I think it’s a great question to ask. Were I the one seeking to be appointed, my answer would be the Bible, because my life changed immeasurably for the betterment of both me and everyone around me after I read it. And that didn’t even take 250 words. It’s not hard stuff, and the amount of possible good answers are as endless as the stars. The important thing is she’s asking if the applicant is a reader. And as Harry S. Truman famously said, “Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers.” It’s a good question to ask.

Now for the politics of this, or more relevant, the political optics or prudence of this. Would she have avoided the scorn being heaped upon her by #sarahhuckabeeSanders today on Twitter? Perhaps. Think the left and Never Trumpers hate her more today than yesterday? Probably not. Will if affect her in the long run? Highly doubtful. If there is a state that’s deeper red than Arkansas, you’d have to look pretty hard to find it. West Virginia could try to claim that mantle, but Senator Joe Manchin would get in their way. Tom Cotton won reelection in 2020 without the Democratic Party even being able to field a candidate on the ticket to run against him. That’s pretty solidly red. I don’t think Sanders is going to pay a price for this at all, especially if she keep delivering wins like the school choice bill.

Bring back the essay. Want to clean out the Swamp? Make them all answer questions in essay format during annual reviews. You’d be able to whittle out half of the entrenched bureaucratic class in spelling errors alone. Hell, you’d even lose Biden himself. The thing he’s most famous for writing was actually written by Neil Kinnock.