Cillizza: Ken Salazar will NOT run for CO Gov; Will back Hickenlooper

[Clio the Leo]

Per....

http://twitter.com/TheFix

(Cillizza is who broke the Dodd story incidentally.)

[rockymountaindem]

1. I can't keep up

Honestly I don't know which way to go here. I don't know a thing about Hickenlooper since I don't live in Denver, and I don't think he'd be as strong a candidate. On the other hand, I think Salazar is doing a good job at Interior and can't mess up the liberal wing of the party as much from that role.

[eleny]

3. It looks like the Dems are deciding who will run so there won't be a Primary

[hlthe2b]

9. it bothers me when the powers that be do that... but...

I can understand, given how tenuous the situation in Colorado.. I am sure they want as little damage done to Bennett in his Senate race and whomever is slated to run for the DEMS in the governor's race as possible, given the margin of "error" is so tight... A primary challenge that is even marginally bruising could make the difference come the Fall. But on principle, this bugs me.

[eleny]

15. I agree. I heard that they do it to save the $ spent on a Primary

What I do like is that they have the brains to at least try and figure out how to win all the open seats. And that would include Hick's Mayoral position. Not that there's much worry about that going to the GOP.

I just hope that Romanoff wins over Bennet if there's a Primary. I thought R was going to have a press conference today at 1 PM but I haven't heard any more since a couple of days ago.

Sorry for the delay in responding, btw. I was out doing a little bit of snow shoveling and check around the place. Man but it was cold last night. I even saw a fox hunting at my bird feeder this morning (in Lakewood). Talk about being desperate. They're rarely out during the day.

[hlthe2b]

16. the cold may ruin my perfect NY's resolution...

I have religiously done my 10K steps each day since 12/31 with the dog.. But she's older and feeling the cold on her tootsies, so we didn't go more than a few blocks this morning. Maybe I'll sneak over to the mall this PM to finish up...

Good luck to your birds... That hungry fox will like ly nab a nice fat squirrel, if nothing else. ;)

[Clio the Leo]

4. Hickenlooper had a small edge over Salazar in early polling....

.... so it's a good thing I think.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=433x113611

[tridim]

5. Hickenlooper is a true progressive, and he's very popular.

Colorado is going DARK blue!

[Jennicut]

6. Yeah, I heard that. Looks like we will have two better candidates now

for CO and CT.

[paulk]

17. Hickenlooper is not a progressive

he's as DLC as they come

http://www.dlc.org/ndol_ci.cfm?contentid=251790&kaid=104&subid=117

He's my mayor and I honest to god don't understand what people see in him - he has supported every boondoggle public works project that's come down the pike - which is coming back to haunt the city as we've had to make huge cuts everywhere because the city has no money, he's made terrible appointments - his initial appt for manager of DIA was a disaster, and his handling of the Christmas storm and it's aftermath a few years ago was almost clownish.

I can't really point at anything that he's done, other than run several successful bars (bars he prevented from unionizing, btw) before he was mayor.

I've met the guy - he's very personable, but I truly don't get why he's so popular.

[tridim]

18. Just a few progressive positions from his wiki

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hickenlooper

Campaign for the homeless
Hickenlooper has gained much praise and criticism for his campaigning for homeless services since taking office in 2003. He's responsible for creating the nation's first "10 year plan to end homelessness", a plan that many other cities have adopted since (he introduced the plan at the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Washington, D.C.). In addition, he also created the commission for ending homelessness in Denver, a program seen by many around North America as being a trend setter and example for cities everywhere. "If we are to consider ourselves a truly great city, we must address all the issues that underlie homelessness." Hickenlooper was quoted as saying during the creation of the commission.

Marijuana legalization
In 2006, Denver became the first major city in the U.S. to make legal the private use of less than an ounce of marijuana legal for adults 21 and older. Hickenlooper opposed the marijuana legalization initiative, which voters approved 53.49%-46.51%, but he did say that the vote "reflects a genuine shift in people's attitudes." Under the current Denver Police interpretation of the law, supported by Hickenlooper, the initiative doesn't usurp Colorado State Law, (CRS). CRS currently treats marijuana possession in much the same way as a speeding ticket, with fines of up to $100 and no jail time.<4>

Greenprint Denver
In his State of the City address on July 12, 2006, Hickenlooper announced a sweeping initiative called Greenprint Denver to promote the importance of sustainable development and ecologically-friendly practices throughout the Denver community and reduce citywide greenhouse gas emissions in accordance with the 2006 U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement. The initiative, guided by a leadership group of city and community members, features a comprehensive action agenda to meet a series of goals over a five-year period.

---

Just because the DLC posted an article about him in 2003 doesn't mean he's DLC, and it doesn't mean he's not a progressive. People like him because he has lots of new ideas for Denver and he's a good person.

[SoxFan]

21. He's DLC and progressive

Despite what the uninformed yammering on DU claims, the two are hardly mutually exclusive.

I met Hickenlooper at, yes, a DLC event in Denver a few years back, and I was impressed by his ability to look beyond old political boxes and find good ideas, regardless of whether they are liberal or conservative.

[hlthe2b]

7. I think the REPUGs would have a harder time stereotyping

Hickenlooper, given that he comes from the business community originally and in his years as Denver mayor, has had to make some tremendously difficult financial decisions--which is exactly what is going to be required for some time longer at the State level. He's polling within 3 points of that asshole McInnis, currently, which is a bit higher than Salazar in the same match up.

[tridim]

8. What we need is a LOUD teabagger candidate from The Springs.

That'll pretty much seal the deal for the good guys.

[hlthe2b]

10. might still happen, though McInnis is pretty horrendous

so he might just please the moron crowd sufficiently.

[Arkana]

2. I'm fairly sure that Hickenlooper's a popular guy in CO

and Salazar not running will please a lot of people.

[Autumn]

20. That pleases me very much,

no way I would ever vote for Salazar again and was very happy to tell him so.

[otohara]

11. All Hail Hick

besides, if McGinnis won, he'd try to rid us of the MM dispensaries that are popping up all over the state.

I told my kid, to tell his buds to save the bud and vote Democratic in November Gov. race.

[earthside]

12. Hope that's true.

Salazar was not very popular among progressives as a U.S. Senator.

Fortunately, Salazar, in my opinion, has been a much better Interior Secretary than he was a Senator.

But, if he ran for governor, I think the first and strongest charge he would face is that he can't finish a big job. He left as a Senator, then, if he resigned as Secretary, he didn't finish there either. And, if he left Interior to run for governor it would look brazenly ambitious ... and this certainly isn't the year to look like that type of politician.

I actually think that this might be a very good year for an unconventional candidate like Denver mayor Hickenlooper. If he picked an Hispanic Lt. Gov. running mate from the western slope, then I think Hick might just be nearly unbeatable.

[earthside]

13. It's true.

http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_14141827

[liskddksil]

14. Good

Hickenlooper takes the Governor and Romanoff hopefully wins the primary to take the Senate. Two Progressives in charge.

[Cha]

19. Hickenlooper is good, right?