Editorial: Hutchinson a good fit for Bush Foundation

As the Independence Party's candidate for governor in 2006, Peter Hutchinson was widely seen as more policy wonk than politician.

The Bush Foundation may have seen some of that in him too. They've found a good way to put his policy bent to work for Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. On Nov. 15, Hutchinson will become only the third president of the foundation established by 3M executive Archibald and Edyth Bush more than a half-century ago.

There's more to this story than "former candidate makes good" and, by his own account, leaves politics. The larger story is that in choosing a visible and energetic player in state affairs as its president, the Bush Foundation is seeking a more prominent role for itself in the three states it serves.

That's welcome news. Private, independent grant-making foundations such as the Bush occupy territory both valuable and scarce in today's politically polarized society. As Hutchinson explains, the foundation enjoys "complete freedom" from partisan or sectarian influence. Its board "can literally decide what to do," he said.

"Of course, with that immense freedom comes immense responsibility" to use its assets wisely. But unlike a business or a political force, a foundation has the stability and the luxury to be able to learn from its mistakes, and live on to apply those lessons to new challenges.

After 54 years, the Bush Foundation has done a lot of learning. Among the lessons: Be the catalyst for change by investing in good people. They can do more to make their communities stronger than one foundation can do on its own. The 30-year-old Bush Fellows leadership development program has trained more than 2,000 people to make a positive difference in the shared life of this region.

With Hutchinson in charge, the Bush goal is to extend that leadership training to organizations, institutions and whole communities, and focus especially on improving health care and education, safeguarding the environment, and sustaining and enlarging artistic expression.

Look for the foundation to chime in more often when public policy questions arise involving those interests. Look for it it to more often play the roles of convener, collaborator, and truth-teller. Expect it to take fuller advantage of the credibility its independence brings. With Hutchinson in charge, our guess is that the Bush Foundation will be hard to miss.