It would be wonderful if someone like John Hickenlooper — a down-to-earth, thoughtful and decent man — could become our president.
Hickenlooper is a man who actually made his fortune through a risky business plan, hard work and determination. Then the political novice became mayor of Denver and then governor of Colorado.
He led the Mile High City and this great state with a steady hand while making some big dreams become a reality.
We think he could accomplish much with four years in the White House, not least of which would be helping to calm the rough political seas in which America has been set adrift.
We know not everyone agrees with his politics or his decisions. Hick is, after all, a Democrat in a purple state who enacted gun safety laws like universal background checks and a ban on high-capacity magazines. He believes in climate change and has taken steps to decrease Colorado’s greenhouse gas emissions.
But no one can deny that as governor he always tried to strike a tone of unity. In 16 years, we have never once seen him try to demonize his political opponents, even behind the scenes his staff has operated under a strict code of refusing to take cheap political shots. He doesn’t have a Twitter account filled with angry messages intended to divide this nation nor does he have a “basket of deplorables” moment that would haunt him in a general election.
“This is a crisis of division,” Hickenlooper said early Monday morning on Good Morning America. “Ultimately I’m running for president because I believe that not only can I beat Donald Trump, but that I am the person who can bring people together on the other side and actually get stuff done.”
Will America’s Democrats cast their primary ballots for someone whose campaign brand is working with the other side? Contrary to popular belief, there is a political middle in America, a universe of moderates who may have been snapped out of their election funk by a president who is outside reasonable norms.
It is optimism, not naivete, which makes us hope for a candidate for president who is not focused on burying political enemies but on burying the hatchet.
Hickenlooper did indeed work well with Colorado’s legislature when the Capitol was divided with Republicans holding one chamber and Democrat’s holding the other. Perhaps that’s because Hickenlooper has done the opposite of surrounding himself with “yes” men during his career, and has hired some of the most admirable civil servants we can think of, including picking two excellent lieutenant governors in Joe Garcia and Donna Lynne.
We don’t know if Hickenlooper can win a Democratic primary that has at least 14 other qualified candidates — many of whom would also be good picks for the White House– already running for a chance to become president.
But we do know that we’re glad he’s trying and that America could do, and has done historically, far worse than electing a president like John Hickenlooper.
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