What might seem to be little things can sometimes help give you the big picture. There are few better examples than the disastrous first term of Gov. Sarah Sanders.

Sanders has been holding a lot of Capitol for a Day events lately. The governor takes Cabinet members to an Arkansas town for a full day. This isn't a new concept. I helped run Capitol for a Day when I served as Gov. Mike Huckabee's policy and communications director three decades ago. We based our events on what our predecessor, Gov. Jim Guy Tucker, had done.

What is different is that Sanders is holding these events deep into an election year. None of the governors who preceded her did that. Tucker, Huckabee, Gov. Mike Beebe and Gov. Asa Hutchinson had the good sense and personal ethics not to have such events close to an election. They didn't want to be charged with using taxpayer funds in order to campaign.

Sanders, who has always been ethically challenged, doesn't care what you or I think. The all-day events have multiplied in number this election year from her first three years in office and are being held within weeks of Election Day.

Is she using state funds to campaign? As someone who worked in a governor's office for almost a decade and managed a couple of gubernatorial campaigns, I can give you the answer to that question: You better believe it.

It's a prime example of a seemingly little thing that shows you the bigger picture.

Another example: As part of the America 250 celebration this year, historic markers were erected at key locations across the state. As someone who loves Arkansas history, I normally would consider that a good thing. The problem is that the markers don't just tell the story of a place as such plaques traditionally do. They include Sanders' name.

It's like being in a Third World dictatorship where Dear Leader's name must appear on everything. Sanders learned that from her mentor, President Donald Trump. I'm reminded of trips to Alabama when I was a boy. There were always billboards at the state line featuring Gov. George Wallace. Sanders governs in the style of Southern segregationists such as Wallace, Gov. Orval Faubus of Arkansas, and Gov. Ross Barnett of Mississippi.

Yet another........

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