Why lead when you can drink?

Much like the President is usually the de facto leader of his party, normally, a Governor should be the de facto leader of his State Party.  To that effect, Rep. Jared Polis pulls out a million-dollar cream pie and slams it in Gov. John Hickenlooper’s face.  Normally, this would be the part where Hickenlooper pulls his big boy pants up and puts Polis in his rightful place: beating him within an inch of his political life, to the point Polis always remembers to ask Hickenlooper’s permission before stepping beyond his little fiefdom of Boulder, and being sure to address Hick as “Sir” when he does so.

Instead, Polis is running rampant all over Colorado.  His attempt to remake Colorado into a larger Boulder threatens Colorado jobs by the thousands and its economy by the billions.  A firmer hand on the till here would negotiate this sprinkling of a storm with no problem, instead of the squall Hickenlooper’s failed leadership has lead us into.  As Ed Sealover at The Denver Business Journal reports, Hickenlooper turns green around the gills when confronted by people who demand a strong leader:

Another source said that a number of attendees told the Democrat governor they wanted to see more leadership out of him in standing up to a member of his own party and explaining the amount of work that went into the setback rules that passed just last year. That person said Hickenlooper looked uncomfortable at that line of conversation. [the Peak emphasis]

That’s the fatal flaw about Hickenlooper: he’s a man who doesn’t want to be a strong leader, he’s a man who just wants to be loved.  Leaders naturally understand it is impossible to make everyone happy all the time, and to focus on such a quixotic quest is to sacrifice being a good leader.  Leaders are turned to when the decisions are most difficult, when both sides have thoughtful, articulate arguments; if the decision was easy anyone could make it. Hell, Hickenlooper’s failure to lead has Coloradans not even wishing for him to become the second coming of King Solomon.  Our standards are so low right now, we’d settle for Hickenlooper rising to the leadership skills of Jimmy Carter; at least Carter had the courage to tell us to put on a sweater.  Hickenlooper wouldn’t be able to decide if we needed a sweater or a jumper.

If we survive this fracking ban foolishness, it won’t be because of anything Hickenlooper has done; he’s already well on his way to becoming the Neville Chamberlain of Colorado.