The Hickenlooper shuffle marches on. Up now is the proposed death penalty overturn, which has Hick scared he might be letting legislative Democrats drag his agenda too far leftwards without doing enough polling to make sure he won’t see political blowback. 

He has raised the possibility of a veto with Democrats in a bid to get them to kill the bill. More than the death of the bill, what Hick really wants is more time to put his finger to the political winds.

As he told The Denver Post:

“At least the last time I was out there it seemed like a pretty significant majority of people still favored the death penalty,” Hickenlooper said. “I think it’s worth a little more discussion before we mail in the votes, as it were.”

This has become the common thread among all of Hickenlooper’s decisions on controversial issues. Leadership by polling.

We got tired of this style of leadership long ago, but it appears even high profile Democrats are willing to slam the Guv over it now. 

One of the bill’s sponsors, Rep. Jovan Melton (D-Aurora), is calling Hick’s bluff:

“We’re not going to pull back at all. It’s a decision the governor’s going to have to make when it arrives at his desk,” Melton said Thursday.

In an even more high profile rebuke, the possible Democrat nominee for Attorney General in 2014, Stan Garnett, who would become Hickenlooper’s lawyer should he win, took a shot straight at the Governor himself:

Boulder County District Attorney Stan Garnett, the Democratic nominee for attorney general in 2010, on Facebook called Hickenlooper’s idea of vetoing the measure a “shame.”

“Many committed Democrats risked their careers on this important effort. We need to do the right thing while we can, and can’t always have our fingers in the air, testing the political winds,” wrote Garnett.

Guess Hick’s aw-shucks, let me check the latest polls before I make up mind style of leadership is now getting old to everyone.