John Hickenlooper

John Hickenlooper, former governor of Colorado, somehow slipped into the presidential race without me realizing it. He announced on March 4th, but I haven't heard anything about him. He doesn't even have a Facebook page, and though I get emails from all the candidates, I haven't gotten one from him.

Hickenlooper (he has the funniest name of all the candidates, if not the hardest to pronounce or spell) is a former geologist and current brewpub owner who was mayor of Denver and then governor. He is classified as a centrist by ontheissues.org, and seeks to establish a bridge between the sides. That's noble, but I wonder if that's what we need--I think I'd prefer a much more progressive candidate, but then again that wouldn't unify things much.

Most of the Democratic boxes are checked by Hickenlooper, even an eventual coming to agree with legalization of cannabis. He is against the death penalty, and for gun control. He states that health care is a right, not a privilege, but has taken no stance on abortion rights, which is kind of amazing.

On foreign policy not much is known about his views, except that he is very pro-Israel, going so far as to sign a bill that won't allow investments in companies that boycott Israel. To me, that's a disqualifier. I'd like to hear more about him in the debates, but he'll have to have 65,000 unique small donors. I believe does accept money from PACs, which is another disqualifier for me. I'd like to know if accepts money from fossil fuel organizations, which would be another strike against him.

Hickenlooper looks presidential, with a kind of rugged good looks and an aw-shucks demeanor. He is a Quaker (but so was Nixon) and a kind who owns a brewpub might be an interesting president. As always, anyone who wins the Democratic nomination will get my vote over the orange one.