Hickenlooper Sails

The Denver Post is reporting today on the victory of the new Denver Justice Center:

John Hickenlooper achieved on Tuesday what Wellington Webb could not.

By most accounts, it was the mayor's consensus-building skills and popularity that soundly snagged Denver a new jail and courthouse on West Colfax Avenue.

But the more interesting article comes to us from the Rocky:

What does the mayor say about (running for Governor)? "Someday I would love to run for governor," he said Tuesday night at the justice center victory party.

He said he would like to go around the state and "touch the gum under the tables."

So just hold on, you Draft Hick folks, because the Governor, Bruce Benson and leading Democrats in the state still need your Mayor for the next big cause: Referendum C.

And yes, that issue will certainly allow Hick to travel the state, “touching the gum” if you will, while concurrently propelling the name ID of the leading Democrat candidate for Governor in ’06.

Someday could be just 18 months away.

Comments

[Realist]

Could you guys be more in love with Hickenlooper? Geez - you are balancing a fine line of trying to appear objective - or maybe you are not trying at all.

[whoknows]

Realist-

No kidding. Hick this Hick that...Hick, Hick, Hick. Give it a rest. And no I am not asking because the "R's" are affraid of him. Even if he does run in 06 he's going to get his lunch handed to him by Bobby B.

[Andrew]

I think the post was quite informative. Because most of the speculation for the governor's race is on the Democratic candidate. They are providing the information that most people are seeking on the Governor's race. If you look at previous posts, the discussion was focused on the jail center win (and the subsequent possibility of a still-strong Hick). These guys are not "pro-Hick," they're just paying attention to the news.

[Red Hawk]

Maybe the bigger point here is this: the best the Dems can offer us is the Mayor of Denver.

I’m still curious if Hick will take Benson up on the offer of joining forces for “C”, or if Benson will renig on that, too, in the hopes of keeping John’s name ID down statewide.

[Phoenix Rising]

I don't know that "just the Mayor of Denver" is a Bad Thing... Would you rather see Ken Salazar jump out from the Senate race? Or Udall? The Mayor works with essentially Degette's constituency, but also has to work with all the surrounding cities, so he's probably got wider appeal and name recognition than a Congressman.

I don't know how much more you'd want in an opponent.

[Phoenix Rising]

"Someday I would love to run for governor" - funny how things change just after a vote :-) Just a couple of days ago, he's writing e-mail saying he hasn't considered it, and now he's at least interested in testing the waters.

[RedHawk]

Well Done, PR, for noticing that shift in perspective.

[pacified]

oh god! The jail passed! tax payers will have to pay $1000 over 20 years! NO! Not my $50!

[Alva Adams]

Thanks to Red Hawk for getting the "gum under the table" line up here this morning. Us Dead Governors missed that as we stumbled bleary eyed out into the world today.

As we've pointed out numerous times when the "Hick Factor" has come up, we are not pro-Hick in that we're fronting for a Governor campaign. It seems that's what the Draft Hick folks are trying to be.

The fact is a lot of Democrats, including some pretty powerful ones, see Hickenlooper as their best chance to get the Governor seat. They point to his popularity in the Front Range and across Colorado as one reason. They also point to Republican concerns about Hickenlooper running for Governor.

And, as the situation in the Democratic Party currently stands, other Democrats are not getitng into the race whole hog until they see what Hickenlooper decides. When you have that kind of power, and someone comments on you having that kind of power, it doesn't make the commentator "pro-Hick." It makes the commentator a realist.

[RedHawk]

And RedHawk – the token right-wing wacko in the blog sphere – is far from “being in love with” Hick. Since the Denver Mayor is the biggest contender for Bobby B., I’ll continue to keep an eye on that rascally rabbit.

Friends close, and enemies - well, you know how that goes.

[Phoenix Rising]

Agree wholeheartedly with Alva here; if Rutt is waiting on Hickenlooper, and all the rest of the Dems are looking at him in anticipation, then the Democratic Governor news essentially boils down to Hick and only Hick.

[whoknows]

OK, fine. I will concede Hick deserves the attention. But, if I am not mistaken, I believe ‎the point Realist and I were both trying to make, and correct me if I am wrong here Real, ‎is the amount of coverage you all give him. You guys seem to hang on every little ‎morsel. I mean jeez. I don’t have the ability or the time to do this but, I would bet if ‎someone were to add up all the mentions of Hick since the inception of this blog in ‎comparison to all the other topics and candidates you covered thus far, they would find ‎Hick comes out on top two to one.‎

[RedHawk]

Maybe you're right. Perhaps I'll post on Bobby B. more in the future.

[Alva Adams]

Hickenlooper gets a lot of attention because he's the 800 lb. donkey in the room.

When we're not being snarky, Colorado Pols attempts to cover politics in our state. The next major race in Colorado is for Governor. The Congressional race in 7 is a close second, but doesn't have the overall political impact the Governor's race will have.

A whole lot of people believe the Democrats, coming off the statehouse win in 2004, have a real shot at taking the Governor's seat from Republican control. While the argument has been made that the Governor doesn't have a lot of power, imagine what Colorado politics would look like with a Democratic controlled legislature and a Democratic Governor. It'd be a pretty hefty sea change from past years.

A lot of people believe the Dem's best and only chance at this scenario - especially with BB in the race - is with Hickenlooper as their guy in the Governor race. Given its importance as the next big statewide race between real humans (as opposed to ballot issues), given the ramifications if the Dems hold the legislature and get the Governor seat, of course this topic is going to get a lot of play on a site like Colorado Pols.

[whoknows]

Alva-‎

Ya, I guess your right - NOT. The amount of ink Hicks been getting from the press ‎lately, including Pols, would turn anyone into an 800 pound Donkey. For goodness sakes, ‎your own blog mentions several D candidates which would give BB just as much a run ‎for his money as Hick would. (Side note: SNARKY?! That is such a great word. I gotta ‎use it.)Why not give those folks just as much press as Hick and see how quickly they turn ‎into a 800 pound Donkey. Sure, Hicks been building some political capital coming off his ‎most recent successes, but this shouldn’t make him the favorite just because the press or ‎anyone else says so. ‎

Lets be real. Most of the folks who post on this blog appear to have some political ‎astuteness to them. With that being said, we all know in this business how the “Good ‎Lord giveth and the God Lord taketh away”. Just as quickly as Hick has seemingly ‎gained his popularity overnight, that to can go away in the blink of an eye. Well, I have ‎already given the Dem’s to much information, so I’ll just shut up right now.‎

[Phoenix Rising]

Besides, what has Holtzman done recently to be in the news? Beauprez? Hickenlooper had a major victory yesterday, and his coyness has kept everybody here on their toes.

[news reader]

I've been wondering about the absence of news about Holtzman too, he's been MIA for two weeks now. But he showed up in the GJ Sentinel this morning - an article by Gary Harmon.

[GJSentinel]

Here it is:

http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2005/05/04/5_4_Holtzman_visit_WWW.html

[Roger D]

Now that Hick has won the jail vote, look for his chief of staff to definitely move to DPS. Word I hear is that this is something Hick really wants and at least partly because he doesn't like the constant whispers that Bennet is the real 'power behind the throne'. Hick has an ego and doesn't like anyone to 'really' think he is not the real force in running the city.

[Don Quixote]

Are you kidding? RogerD, you've clearly never spent any time around Hick. Noone lavishes praise on Bennett more loudly or publicly than the mayor himself. Most people I talk to have never seen a politician share credit with others as much as Hick does. Ego may be the political stereotype but the shoe doesn't seem to fit in this case.