CNN reports ahead of this week’s Democratic presidential debates, which could be the last appears for Colorado’s two aspiring presidential candidates in the mix barring a dramatic upswing in support:
Democrats on Capitol Hill have a message for presidential hopefuls John Hickenlooper, the former governor of Colorado, and Steve Bullock, the current governor of Montana: you’d make great senators.
Hickenlooper and Bullock have struggled to gain traction in a crowded field of Democratic presidential candidates, but as governors, they have already proven they can be elected statewide. As Democrats gear up for a fight for the Senate, many are quick to say they believe Hickenlooper and Bullock would make formidable challengers to Republican senators up for re-election in Colorado and Montana.
“I would urge them to think about this moment in our history and what would be best for the country,” Democratic Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico told CNN of Hickenlooper and Bullock, saying “no doubt about it,” when asked if he thinks they would make strong Senate candidates and adding that he believes they would make good senators.
That’s the strongest public support we’ve seen from any nationally prominent Democrat for former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper to make the jump from his little-fish-in-a-big-pond campaign for President into a race that, while crowded, Hickenlooper would immediately become the frontrunner in to win the Democratic nomination.
Hickenlooper’s pros and cons are well known to all sides in Colorado, but several factors could make him a powerful antidote to Sen. Cory Gardner’s relentlessly sunny yet deeply trust-challenged persona. Hickenlooper was highly popular as governor, and more than perhaps any other candidate in the race, Hickenlooper can beat Gardner at his own upbeat game–and be more truthful and authentic as he does it. In addition, Hickenlooper’s unsuccessful anti-“socialism” message in the presidential race, which we’ve criticized as tone deaf in that particular setting, effectively defangs Gardner’s message on the campaign trail heavily dependent on slamming the “S-word” and all its outlandish implicit connotations.
It’s been evident for some time now that both of Colorado’s Democratic presidential aspirants, for all their hard work and determination, were going to have trouble breaking into the upper tier of better-known candidates in the race for President. Sen. Michael Bennet of course can simply keep doing the job he was re-elected to do in 2016. As for Gov. Hickenlooper?
The decision he makes next is up to him, and it looks to us like all his doors remain open.
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Hick is not getting any traction and should drop out now. Bennet needs to stay in the Senate.
Agreed, and after Wednesday night, he probably will since: (a) he doesn't have any money, and (b) will not qualify for the next round of debates. Yesterday's NY Times piece was his 15 minutes of Warhollian fame.
Someone please tell the DC Dems to mind their own fucking business. Last time they gave us Bennett. Now they want a true Fossilonian in the Senate.
Andrew Romanoff is a superior legislator with a record of integrity. Frackenlooper is willing to lie for his powerful friends.
No….thank you.
Andrew is a fine man. Alice Madden is an even finer woman. But Cory will not be easy to beat and Hick is the only contender now coming off a win. We desperately need the Senate to stave off two generations of fascism in the federal courts.
Just as I don't want a 70-something candidate for President, I don't think we need a 69-year-old freshman Senator.
Cory has a sliver of bi-partisanship and a swathe of support of Trump. He can't run away from Trump, as he's already endorsed him. The election is likely a referendum on Trump's Sad!-ministration and Cory's support of its moves. Absent campaign malpractice, I don't see it becoming a policy-based comparison of Gardner and Candidate D.
Let's find someone who wants to be a Senator, who is capable of raising the money needed to build a campaign organization, and who will represent the diverse state. I've seen several of the candidates in person, and all but one have made me say their candidacy COULD work.
How 'bout Hick just enjoy the private sector in his waning years?
Sometimes there comes a point when the very best thing a man can do for his country is — retire.
I will grudgingly apologize for my earlier outburst, but I want to reiterate the point that I simply will not set aside Governor John Hickenloopers' publicity stunt…the one that earned him the nickname “Frackenlooper”.
Unless I have missed something, nothing has changed. I don't trust him.