Democratic Party 2017 and beyond

[Hornsby]

My money's on "Chickenlooper."

Slightly changed: "CHICKENPOOPER"

Seriously, give us the local take on the Governor...is he presidential material(pre Trump version) in your opinion? You're a fairly pragmatic guy...

[senorsheep]

I haven't followed Hickenlooper all that closely, but he seems like a solid, reasonable dude with a good track record, which I like.

https://www.rollingstone.com/politic...r-post-w518721

My kind of Democratic politician:

1) Understands and embraces business.
2) Cares about fiscal responsibility.
3) Consensus builder - will listen to ideas and concerns from all stakeholders.
4) Will actually call out his own party and defy them when he thinks they're in the wrong.
5) Admits his shortcomings and mistakes, and seeks to learn from them and improve.
6) Focuses on issues and solutions - eschews identity politics demagoguery completely.
7) Calm, rational, pleasant, respectful demeanor - eschews moronic bomb-throwing partisan warfare.

And I'm not just saying all that because he's my boss!

I don't agree with him on every issue, but he's smart, honest, ethical, and very capable - exactly what we need to move forward from our current malaise. I'd vote for him in a heartbeat. But don't let that scare you off...

[Hornsby]

My kind of Democratic politician:

1) Understands and embraces business.
2) Cares about fiscal responsibility.
3) Consensus builder - will listen to ideas and concerns from all stakeholders.
4) Will actually call out his own party and defy them when he thinks they're in the wrong.
5) Admits his shortcomings and mistakes, and seeks to learn from them and improve.
6) Focuses on issues and solutions - eschews identity politics demagoguery completely.
7) Calm, rational, pleasant, respectful demeanor - eschews moronic bomb-throwing partisan warfare.

And I'm not just saying all that because he's my boss!

I don't agree with him on every issue, but he's smart, honest, ethical, and very capable - exactly what we need to move forward from our current malaise. I'd vote for him in a heartbeat. But don't let that scare you off...

Perfect...that's the simple cover that I was hoping to see. I never want a one trick pony, or someone so beholden to the party that they'll follow in lockstep. Thanks, much appreciated.

[onejayhawk]

That's an anti-Trump that makes sense.

J

[cardboardbox]

My kind of Democratic politician:

1) Understands and embraces business.
2) Cares about fiscal responsibility.
3) Consensus builder - will listen to ideas and concerns from all stakeholders.
4) Will actually call out his own party and defy them when he thinks they're in the wrong.
5) Admits his shortcomings and mistakes, and seeks to learn from them and improve.
6) Focuses on issues and solutions - eschews identity politics demagoguery completely.
7) Calm, rational, pleasant, respectful demeanor - eschews moronic bomb-throwing partisan warfare.

this looks like a list of reasons why he'll never make it out of the primary.

[B-Fly]

this looks like a list of reasons why he'll never make it out of the primary.

I don't know. I think the bottom line for many and maybe even most Democratic primary voters will be electability versus Trump, so someone with two terms of widely-acknowledged solid experience as a governor in a purple state, and someone with a reasonable path to crossover and independent voter appeal could resonate. A lot will depend on how many people throw their hat in the ring for the nomination and where those folks reside on the Democratic Party spectrum.

[senorsheep]

I don't know. I think the bottom line for many and maybe even most Democratic primary voters will be electability versus Trump, so someone with two terms of widely-acknowledged solid experience as a governor in a purple state, and someone with a reasonable path to crossover and independent voter appeal could resonate. A lot will depend on how many people throw their hat in the ring for the nomination and where those folks reside on the Democratic Party spectrum.

Hickenlooper would be a terrific "stark contrast" candidate. If Democrats want somebody to roll around in the mud with Trump, then the governor probably isn't their man. I'm concerned that Dems will draw the wrong lessons from the last election and decide that a practical, capable centrist can't win. I hope that they'll try a practical, capable centrist without Hillary's baggage before abandoning that idea completely.

I can't even imagine how a guy with Hickenlooper's temperament would counter Trump's barrage of nonsense, but the governor is a smart dude, and I'm pretty confident he wouldn't be caught off guard like Trump's opponents were in 2016.

[Sour Masher]

My kind of Democratic politician:

1) Understands and embraces business.
2) Cares about fiscal responsibility.
3) Consensus builder - will listen to ideas and concerns from all stakeholders.
4) Will actually call out his own party and defy them when he thinks they're in the wrong.
5) Admits his shortcomings and mistakes, and seeks to learn from them and improve.
6) Focuses on issues and solutions - eschews identity politics demagoguery completely.
7) Calm, rational, pleasant, respectful demeanor - eschews moronic bomb-throwing partisan warfare.

And I'm not just saying all that because he's my boss!

I don't agree with him on every issue, but he's smart, honest, ethical, and very capable - exactly what we need to move forward from our current malaise. I'd vote for him in a heartbeat. But don't let that scare you off...

Wow, thanks for this recap. He definitely sounds like someone who should be a serious contender. I am hoping for just such a contrast candidate to emerge.

[umjewman]

Hickenlooper would be a terrific "stark contrast" candidate. If Democrats want somebody to roll around in the mud with Trump, then the governor probably isn't their man. I'm concerned that Dems will draw the wrong lessons from the last election and decide that a practical, capable centrist can't win. I hope that they'll try a practical, capable centrist without Hillary's baggage before abandoning that idea completely.

I can't even imagine how a guy with Hickenlooper's temperament would counter Trump's barrage of nonsense, but the governor is a smart dude, and I'm pretty confident he wouldn't be caught off guard like Trump's opponents were in 2016.

<a href="https://faketrumptweet.com/fake-tweet/jieyi3km_1ngk5ui_155cbi2"><img src="https://s.faketrumptweet.com/jieyi3km_1ngk5ui_155cbi2.png" title="Made in America at faketrumptweet.com"/></a>

www.faketrumptweet.com is the best. Also, I purposely misspelled Colorado for authenticity.

[chancellor]

I don't know. I think the bottom line for many and maybe even most Democratic primary voters will be electability versus Trump, so someone with two terms of widely-acknowledged solid experience as a governor in a purple state, and someone with a reasonable path to crossover and independent voter appeal could resonate. A lot will depend on how many people throw their hat in the ring for the nomination and where those folks reside on the Democratic Party spectrum.

Last sentence is key. The Bernie Bros won't stand for a candidate like Hickenlooper, so the only way he survives is for enough left-wing candidates to run so the vote is split in a manner that he gets enough wins or near-wins to build momentum. Similar to how Trump won out. But if there's a consensus - or even just two - left wing candidates, Hickenlooper's gonna get crushed in the primaries, especially if some party faithfuls who have a quarter of Hickenlooper's competence (yeah, Joe Biden, I'm looking at you) also make a run.

[Fresno Bob]

Slightly changed: "CHICKENPOOPER"

Seriously, give us the local take on the Governor...is he presidential material(pre Trump version) in your opinion? You're a fairly pragmatic guy...

Trump will be even further infantilized by then, he'll go with "Lickenpooper"

[onejayhawk]

I don't know. I think the bottom line for many and maybe even most Democratic primary voters will be electability versus Trump, so someone with two terms of widely-acknowledged solid experience as a governor in a purple state, and someone with a reasonable path to crossover and independent voter appeal could resonate. A lot will depend on how many people throw their hat in the ring for the nomination and where those folks reside on the Democratic Party spectrum.

They don't call it the clown car for nothing.

J

[swampdragon]

They don't call it the clown car for nothing.

J

I thought the clown car was used to describe the Republican contenders last presidential election

[chancellor]

I thought the clown car was used to describe the Republican contenders last presidential election

They did rent it for a bit, I'll even grant that's true. They'll return it right after the rear axel gets repaired from having Christie sit in the back.

[onejayhawk]

I thought the clown car was used to describe the Republican contenders last presidential election

The expression is a lot older than 2016. It refers to the number of candidates trying to get attention, not the pary.

They did rent it for a bit, I'll even grant that's true. They'll return it right after the rear axel gets repaired from having Christie sit in the back.

That's good.

J