Hick to the Sticks

Well, it' finally official. Ed Perlmutter is still the State's most boring politician.

Whoops! I mean John Hickenlooper has decided to run for governor and I must say, the liberal conclaves in Denver and Boulder are absolutely having hot flashes over it. Which is precisely the problem for Democrats.

Hick is absolutely adored by the San Franciscoesque liberals in Denver and some of it's surrounding areas. Why? Because he's every bit the kooky leftist that Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and the rest of their ilk are. This is awesome if you're running for Mayor of Denver.

Not so good for a statewide election though. While there are a number of liberals scattered around the rest of the State, notably around Pueblo and Ft. Collins, but the similarities end there. The liberals in those areas are more in the Reagan Democrat mold. Sure they favor more aggressive government spending programs then a typical conservative but they still believe in some measure of fiscal responsibility, social conservatism and individualism. These are the Blue Dog types that have been sharply opposed to Speaker Pelosi.

Proof of this comes in the Reps for the third and fourth districts, John Salazar and Betsy Marky. Both of these two try and pass themselves off as moderates but they vote as liberally as any other lib when they need too. In an effort to deceive their constituents, these reps consistently wait until the end of votes in the House. If it is a blowout, Pelosi allows them to vote conservative to placate the voters but if it's close they vote party line. Marky especially gets the kid glove treatment from Pelosi since she won her seat only because Marilyn Musgrave became so detestable that she blew and easily winnable Republican seat.

So who benefits from Hicks involvement? GOP candidate Scott McInnis. Grand Junctions own and former 3rd dist. representative led Hick 45-42 in the first poll taken for the matchup. He has far more connection to rural/southern/western Colorado and has cleared the field to avoid a messy primary. He'll get what conservative vote there is in the Denver area because he's not a radical right winger and if you combine that with Hicks total lack of appeal to any voter south of Invesco or west of Aspen along with a devastating difference in voter enthusiasm between Republicans and Democrats and you should see McInnis as the next governor of Colorado. It will be hard for Hick to counteract these factors as nobody is clamoring for Denver style governing outside Denver and he appeals to no minority or youth base to make up for the nationwide lack of liberal enthusiasm. Dems in 2008 rode a big wave of minority and youth support to destroy Republicans but Hick can forget that. Ken Salazar would have been far more formidable as his ties to the Hispanic community could have increased voter turnout enough to swing the election. Something tells me Mexicans, etc. aren't going to flock to the pols for a geeky looking white liberal named Hickenlooper with the same fervor.