The Post editorial: News of Gov. John Hickenlooper taking steps toward making a presidential run in 2020 gives us hope.
For years now, any mention of Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper’s rumored interest in a presidential run has drawn eyerolls from journalists who cover politics, most pundits and plenty of armchair analysts.
The smart money has been that our quirky governor wouldn’t do well on the national stage. A prime-time speech he gave at the Democratic National Convention in 2012, seen as his big American debut, was mostly ignored by delegates. The six-minute speech touting President Barack Obama was nothing like the thunderbolt keynote address a mostly unknown Obama delivered in 2004. While Hickenlooper made the shortlist of candidates Hillary Clinton hoped to make vice president, the nod went to Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia.
But The Denver Post’s John Frank and Mark K. Matthews reported this week that Hickenlooper is indeed taking steps toward a run in 2020, and we must admit, the news gives us hope.
And not simply because of Hickenlooper’s interest. The Post notes that Democratic insiders say former Sen. Ken Salazar and current Sen. Michael Bennet also are “at least” considering bids in 2020. We hope their interest represents good signs of things to come.
These are serious people, far more interested in substantive, respectful debate than our divisive president. Each can point to strong bipartisan relationships and accomplishments during their years of public service. Each avoids bombast and pettiness and strives toward statesmanship. Each looks for and gets excited by ideas coming from outside the party faithful.
Fueling our hope for such moderate candidates is a worry that just as Obama’s early years created the Tea Party, Trump’s will galvanize the hard left, creating a similar dynamic to the never-compromise excesses of the far right.
Already we’re seeing signs of such impulses. In California last month, Democrats overwhelmingly decided not to endorse Sen. Dianne Feinstein for another term. As reporters for the Los Angeles Times put it, the fact that almost two-thirds of the party’s delegates voted against the longtime senator reflects “the dissonance between an increasingly liberal state party and the moderation and pragmatism that have been the hallmarks of Feinstein’s political career.”
And while progressive firebrand Sen. Elizabeth Warren said presently she has no plans to run for president in 2020, few are buying it. There’s a lot of energy among those energized by thinkers like Sen. Bernie Sanders, here and elsewhere.
Still, we hope that Democrats as a whole reject resorting to hard partisanship. Fighting fire with fire might feel good in the short run, but look at the trouble and upheaval that’s been caused by what the Tea Party morphed into.
Not that there isn’t a place for hardliners on either side, of course. They bring plenty of passion, energy and ideas to the public debate. They’re in the trenches daily pushing for better. But we hope that the next wave of Republican and Democratic leadership contains plenty of strong people able to channel that passion toward broader change that’s best for all Americans. And who isn’t tired of gridlock?
These are exceptionally difficult political times. We’re glad to see there are still adults willing to risk them.