Hickenlooper’s race to the white house could end sooner than expected
We’ve known all along that former Colorado governor John Hickenlooper was a longshot for the Democratic nomination for president. Now with five advisors gone or leaving, it’s a major sign that his presidential run might already be coming to an end.
Hickenlooper is also not getting enough money from donors to make it to the next debate and on top of that, he is ranking low in the polls.
Political science professor Ken Bickers with CU Boulder says the best thing for Hickenlooper now is to drop out of the race to save his political career. “At some point, the jig is up,” Bickers says, “you just have to step out if you are not going to be viable.”
Josh Dunn is also a political science professor with UCCS agrees saying the former governor isn’t the type of candidate the Democratic base is looking for.
“He actually has said that part of the reason why he is not getting traction is because he is not promising free stuff to people,” Dunn says.
It’s true. As a moderate, Hickenlooper has made no promises of free health care or free college tuition like some other contenders.
Hickenlooper was even booed in at the California Democrats State Convention back in June for saying socialism isn’t the answer.
Social media is playing an important role as well. The two charts below are Facebook analytics that we got from CrowdTangle. They were recorded in the five days following Thursday nights Democratic debate.
Facebook page ranking of the 24 Democratic candidates
# of page likes
1) Bernie Sanders
5,068,506
2) Elizabeth Warren
3,236,459
3) Joe Biden
1,477,736
4) Cory Booker
1,188,243
5) Kamala Harris
1,118,403
16) Michael Bennet
101,925
20) John Hickenlooper
62,146
Share of Facebook interactions (likes, comments & shares)
Total Interactions
% Share
1) Bernie Sanders
464,294
38%
2) Kamala Harris
184,719
15.1%
3) Elizabeth Warren
158,484
13%
4) Joe Biden
90,206
7.4%
5) Beto O’Rourke
59,086
4.8%
5-tie) Marianne Williamson
58,813
4.8%
17) Michael Bennet
5,940
0.5%
21) John Hickenlooper
860
0.1%
Out of the more than 20 candidates, Hickenlooper isn’t in the top ten when it comes to Facebook followers and not even in the top 20 when it comes to interactions. Ranking close to the bottom of both categories.
U.S. Senator Michael Bennet ranking above him. In comparison, President Trump had 377% more interactions with his followers in this same period of time than Bernie Sanders who is ranked at the top.
But there may still be hope for Hickenlooper’s political career. Reports say his advisors told him to drop out of the race and instead run against Republican Senator Cory Gardner for his seat in 2020.
Both political professors say, that’s a pretty good idea. Bickers says, “I think he would be the most formidable candidate that Gardner would go up against.”
“That’s a race he could win if he were to jump into it,” Dunn says.
Adding that he would then have the name recognition and support in Colorado that he doesn’t have at the national level.
But again, Bickers says he would need to make that decision soon, “The sooner and more gracefully he exits it would probably be better for him.”
