Earlier this year, Governor John Hickenlooper ruffled some White House feathers when he gave this assessment of President Obama’s re-election prospects in Colorado.
“It depends on who his opponent [is]. I think it’d be a very close battle. He’d have a hard time. [Peak emphasis]
There’s such dissatisfaction over people who have been out of work, not just for a few months but for over a year and a half or two years.
We’re guessing he received some angry phone calls from Chicago over that clear-eyed assessment.
On the day that Air Force One’s tires touch down at DIA, the Governor is back at the Presidential prediction thing, this time reversing his White House weather forecast from “roughly no chance” to “possibly a chance” … or something like that.
Today’s Politico:
The current governor, Democrat John Hickenlooper, offers an equally sober assessment. “The President probably can win Colorado, but he’s got a lot of work to do,” he told POLITICO in a telephone interview. [Peak emphasis]
Not exactly a bold statement of confidence.
Former Governor Bill Ritter, a man who knows a thing or two about losing the support of Colorado voters, piles on with Politico:
“A repeat of 2008 is very unlikely… I’d say he’s looking at a high-wire act here,” warns former Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter…
…”I think he will be able to motivate the electorate enough to win, but it’s going to be a function of turnout, of circumstance, of piecing things together – not a wave and certainly not a youth wave,” said Ritter, who retired in 2010. “I have four children in college, and I look at the ways their friends and peers are struggling to find jobs. They are struggling, and that’s a frustration that will translate into certainly less performance than in 2008.”
The president, Ritter added, “is driving the bus, and the person who is driving the bus in this economy will have a hard time getting people to hop back on that bus.” [Peak emphasis]