Gov. John Hickenlooper is getting desperate to shore up support in the Latino community after news this week that a large faction of them aren’t happy with his administration.

On Wednesday, leaders of a Latino advocacy group flexed their political muscle and threatened to pull support from Hickenlooper if he didn’t put more resources toward the state’s new driver’s license program.  Demonstrators gathered outside the Democrat Party headquarters to show they mean business.  From The Denver Post:

Protesters held signs reading “Shame on you Democratic party” and “Stop discrimination” on the corner of Sherman Street and Eighth Avenue as motorists drove by heading to work.

But, instead of responding to this group’s concerns, what did Hickenlooper do?  True to form, he abdicated his responsibility as the state’s chief executive and let his low level cronies handle the response instead, which they did… by locking members of the group out of the Party’s offices!

Then, no less than 24 hours after the group wrapped up their protest outside the Dem’s offices, Sen. Jessie Ulibarri (D-Westminster) and Party Chairman Rick Palacio tried to organize a counter-protest aimed at Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez.

In locking the demonstrators out of their offices and trying to change the subject, instead of addressing the issue at hand, the Democrats demonstrated an utter disregard for the Latinos they claim to champion.  This episode illustrates an important point – that Latino support for Democrats is not a given, and in Colorado it could very well be up for grabs.  Those votes have to be earned just like everyone else’s.