What I have found most puzzling about the row over Indiana’s RFRA is Governor Mike Pence’s admission that he did not anticipate the backlash.

This tells me that Pence is not very politically astute. It was just over a year ago that then Arizona Governor Jan Brewer vetoed a similar law following a significant outpouring of anger and discontent. You would think Pence and Indiana Republicans would have been aware of such a possibility. Either they were caught completely off guard or they thought they could get away with it.

Now the bill has been signed into law and Pence and the Indiana GOP cannot defend their actions and have to clean up the mess they’ve created.

Of course, a similar bill has now been passed in Arkansas. But its newly elected Republican Governor Asa Hutchinson is saying not so fast. Hutchinson has sent the bill back to the legislature asking that it more closely mirror the federal RFRA passed in 1993.

Over at NRO, Ian Tuttle tut-tuts that Hutchinson has given in to bullying.

On the contrary, Hutchinson is exercising prudence in not signing a bad law that will further divide people and lead to more lawsuits. It’s too bad Pence didn’t see fit to take Hutchinson’s approach.  Had Pence not been so eager to sign his state’s RFRA then he could have avoided this embarrassing spectacle in the first place.