I hate you, Colorado Peak Politics
If there was ever a group of people less in touch with the broad constituency that put Donald Trump over the top in November, it’s the crew that descends on Davos, Switzerland for a week every January. This month John Hickenlooper joined them, and amidst the fear and loathing about the impending Trump Administration, carved out a niche for himself as the political flavor of the day.
It certainly isn’t the Governor’s first trip to Davos, but in the political vacuum created after the Democrats flatlined in 2016, the Governor is a familiar name, and more importantly, a relatively unscathed player on a battlefield littered with the broken dreams of what Democrats hoped would have been an electoral rout. But the last man standing doesn’t make a promising 2020 presidential hopeful, as many of Hickenlooper’s early supporters would like to believe.
Business Insider landed a Davos interview with the governor, and in its write up, said that Hickenlooper was ‘on the verge of building a buzz as a 2020 hopeful.” The article mentioned an unnamed Obama Administration insider speculating that Hickenlooper could be a good foil to Trump in four years, given his business background and, in the words of the Obama insider, his “laser focus on middle class jobs and economic growth.”
We’re guessing that this Obama “insider” hasn’t spent much time studying Colorado politics, or bothered to learn much about Hickenlooper outside of his “aw shucks” demeanor and campaign ads filmed in his shower. Obviously Hicknelooper’s record on economic growth, jobs, and leadership would not hold up under even the most superficial scrutiny.
Hickenlooper has been all-in on Obamacare, and its disastrous second order effects from day one, and he continues to support the failed, job-killing legislation.
We are challenged to find a middle class tax increase that he has not supported, and when it comes time to make tough decisions required of his office, the Governor exhibits all the leadership of a caboose. The continued waste of oxygen that is the Chuck E. Cheese killer is Exhibit A in that category.
We are not sure how any analysis could rationally pit Hickenlooper’s background and skills against Trump’s and call it an even match.
In 2016, America said in a decisive way that it wants a strong leader who will fight for its interests on the world stage, and not kowtow to a confederation of global elites. If the Democrats think that Hickenlooper can deliver on that vision, we should just let them dream on for the next four years.