Governor focused on Colorado, not DC
Governor John Hickenlooper returned from Washington Tuesday after meeting with the president and other top national leaders about a variety of issues.
Ironically, the governor had become somewhat of a fixture in the national political scene even before his trip.
Over the last few weeks, his name has popped up more often than ever before in national news articles.
Business Insider called him “someone who could rescue the party”.
The Hill said he had “a politically effective down-to-earth persona.”
The Blaze called him “the only governor with true national potential.”
Mother Jones said he is “a popular politician in a swing state”.
He has also become a familiar face on national talk shows, including NBC’s Meet The Press this past Sunday, CNN, and Fox News on Wednesday night.
In the fall of 2016, Hickenlooper was named as a possible running mate for Hillary Clinton, and he is often mentioned as a possible candidate for president in 2020.
However, the governor has made it clear he will not run in 2020, and also told a group from Colorado Springs on Tuesday at the capitol that he’s not planning a senate run in 2018 or even a committee to explore that possility.
“I’m going to have to be 100% focused in the next two years, so I’m not going to form a PAC for anything, ” he said. “I’m not going to do exploratory work or put a committee together or any of that. I’m going to focus on Colorado 100%.
With two years left in his final term, he admits there is a sense of urgency to get things done.
“I think it’s 677 days (left in his term). On my cell phone, I have a new number on there, and many in my administration have that same number, because we know that we’re trying to build efficience and effectiveness in state government, and we only have so much time.”
The governor also admitted that he’s considering a life out of politics altogether, but just like his other options, he says he just can’t worry about that right now.
“I’ve got a lot to do, but I can see it’d be fun to run a business again. I miss it. So we’ll see. I got lots of time.”
When asked what he sees as the state’s biggest challenges in his final two years, he said transportation improvements, including expanding I-25, and developing a more educated and trained workforce to fill the jobs that are moving to Colorado.
