Another Democrat gears up for 2020: Colorado governor John Hickenlooper

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Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, 66, is interviewing dozens of potential staffers and hiring a pollster and national fundraiser
He leaves office next month after two terms allowing him a free hand to run although he is not expected to announce before his last day on January 9
During his first term Colorado became first state to legalize pot although he opposed the ballot measure
One-time brewpub owner has traveled to battleground states like Florida and Georgia and key early voting duo of Iowa and New Hampshire

Published: 18:55 EDT, 5 December 2018 | Updated: 19:31 EDT, 6 December 2018

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Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper and his allies are taking new steps toward launching a presidential campaign, including interviews with dozens of potential staffers and hiring a pollster and national fundraiser, according to a person close to the Democrat.

He's already launched a political action committee that allows him to raise money nationally and hired his 2014 campaign manager, Brad Komar, to run it. Since the PAC was formed in September, Komar has done 80 interviews with possible campaign staffers, the person said.

Of those, Hickenlooper, 66, has conducted or participated in 30 interviews. The operation has hired Democratic veteran Anna Greenberg as its pollster and FK & Co. as national fundraisers; it raises money for Democratic senators including Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

Hickenlooper isn't expected to make a formal decision on running for president until his term ends on Jan. 8. The person close to the governor requested anonymity because Hickenlooper hasn't yet formally launched his campaign.

Is he in? John Hickenlooper, governor of Colorado until January 9, is gearing up for a run and expected to announce if he will become an official candidate after leaving office

Legacy: Hickenlooper was governor of Colorado when it became the first state to legalize pot, although he opposed the ballot measure which approved the move

The moves come as potential presidential contenders step up efforts to get their campaign infrastructures into place. With as many as two dozen possible candidates for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, there is a fierce competition playing out for talent.

Hickenlooper's second term in Colorado has been consumed with speculation over a potential presidential run. But he has sounded less ambiguous in recent days.

'We're beyond mulling,' Hickenlooper said in an interview this week. 'I think we're engaging people I've known and trusted and understand some of the subtleties around running for the highest office.'

Hickenlooper traveled to battleground states like Florida and Georgia during the final weeks of the midterm elections campaign, as well as the key early voting duo of Iowa and New Hampshire to test his expected 2020 message.

At one point he flatly told a New Hampshire waitress he was running for president, only to have to add minutes later that he hadn't formally made a decision and note there were legal issues to saying he was a candidate.

It was a typical moment for a notoriously unscripted politician who often quips there's 'no more than five feet between myself and disaster.'

His bid would rely on his unorthodox story and quirky personality to cut through the clutter of a packed Democratic presidential primary field.

'I don't think anybody else who's being talked about has been a mayor and a governor and an entrepreneur - not to mention a brewer,' Hickenlooper said in the interview.

Hickenlooper was a laid-off oil geologist who struck it rich founding a brewpub in downtown Denver. He parlayed that into a successful run first for Denver mayor and then governor.

In his campaigns, Hickenlooper held himself out as a nonpartisan pragmatist who wouldn't run negative ads, instead featuring spots that showed him feeding quarters into overpriced parking meters or jumping out of a plane to promote a ballot measure that expanded the state budget.

But there are obvious challenges for an avowedly nonpartisan candidate who spent much of his political career winning the support of Colorado's Republican business leaders.

Target: Donald Trump's 2020 election campaign is already under way. The Democratic race is still to begin

Despite implementing limits on methane and automobile emissions, Hickenlooper has frustrated some environmentalists with his defense of hydraulic fracturing and the energy industry in general, positions which may put him in a tough spot with a national Democratic primary electorate increasingly agitated about climate change.

His no-negative style of campaigning may be jarring for parts of the primary electorate that yearn for a more aggressive candidate to take on President Donald Trump.

His base in Colorado allows him to make a pitch as someone who can speak to the heartland, but it means he's distant from the financial centers of Democratic fundraising on the coasts.

And though he has several locally high-profile African-American backers in Colorado, he has limited ties to black voters, a key slice of the Democratic primary electorate.

Still, Hickenlooper's record in swing-state Colorado was appealing enough to land him on Hillary Clinton's final list of potential running mates in 2016. And his folksy demeanor and unpolished manner may play well in the era of Trump.

'That careful staging, carefully managing to be politically correct and never say anything wrong - that's changed and made it possible for someone like Hickenlooper to shine,' said Alan Salazar, a former Hickenlooper aide and veteran Democratic operative in Colorado.

Hickenlooper's moves come as his former chief of staff from City Hall, Sen. Michael Bennet, has started to mull his own bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. Bennet and Hickenlooper are still close and advisers to both men insist there's room for two possible Democratic candidates from Colorado.

Any campaign will rely heavily on Hickenlooper's record in Colorado, which became the first state to legalize recreational marijuana under his watch, although he opposed the ballot measure permitting that step.

It would be based in Denver and sell him as a solution-oriented Democrat who can attract support of all stripes while achieving key liberal goals like expanding Medicaid and gay rights.

'A lot of it will come down to how well we can articulate our vision of making America a place where we fulfill our role on the world stage where every human, every person in the country, has an equal shot, a fair shot at creating their own American dream,' Hickenlooper said.

'That kind of stuff, there's a certain amount of poetry to it - and I'm not much of a poet, but if there wasn't stuff to be learned, how much fun would it be?'

JOE BIDEN AND THE 28 DEMOCRATS HE RAN AGAINST TO BECOME PARTY'S 2020 CANDIDATE

JOE BIDEN

Age on Inauguration Day 2021: 78

Entered race: April 25, 2019

Career: No current role. A University of Delaware and Syracuse Law graduate, he was first elected to Newcastle City Council in 1969, then won upset election to Senate in 1972, aged 29. Was talked out of quitting before being sworn in when his wife and daughter died in a car crash and served total of six terms. Chaired Judiciary Committee's notorious Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings. Ran for president in 1988, pulled out after plagiarism scandal, ran again in 2008, withdrew after placing fifth in the Iowa Caucuses. Tapped by Obama as his running mate and served two terms as vice president. Contemplated third run in 2016 but decided against it after his son died of brain cancer.

Family: Eldest of four siblings born to Joe Biden Sr. and Catherine Finnegan. First wife Neilia Hunter and their one-year-old daughter Naomi died in car crash which their two sons, Joseph 'Beau' and Robert Hunter survived. Married Jill Jacobs in 1976, with whom he has daughter Ashley. Beau died of brain cancer in 2015. Hunter's marriage to Kathleen Buhle, with whom he has three children, ended in 2016 when it emerged Hunter was in a relationship with Beau's widow Hallie, mother of their two children. Hunter admitted cocaine use; his estranged wife accused him of blowing their savings on drugs and prostitutes

Religion: Catholic

Views on key issues: Ultra-moderate who will emphasize bipartisan record. Will come under fire over record, having voted: to stop desegregation bussing in 1975; to overturn Roe v Wade in 1981; for now controversial 1994 Violent Crime Act; for 2003 Iraq War; and for banking deregulation. Says he is 'most progressive' Democrat. New positions include free college, tax reform, $15 minimum wage. No public position yet on Green New Deal and healthcare. Pro-gun control. Has already apologized to women who say he touched them inappropriately

Would make history as: Oldest person elected president

Slogan: Our Best Days Still Lie Ahead

AND THE 28 WHO HAVE WITHDRAWN

MICHAEL BENNET, Colorado senator