> His [[ https://www.denverpost.com/2014/06/28/hickenloopers-popular-quirky-image-now-under-fire/ | quirky personality ]] was his secret political weapon in Colorado, but it’s unclear how it’ll shake out on a national stage...
>...
>But while he hasn’t been shy about [[ https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-illinois-recreational-marijuana-hickenlooper-20181114-story.html | touting the benefits ]] of recreational pot, activists may not be willing to forget that he initially [[ https://www.denverpost.com/2012/09/12/colorado-gov-john-hickenlooper-opposes-marijuana-legalization-measure/ | opposed legalization ]] in 2012.
>...
> [E]ven [[ https://www.politico.com/story/2018/09/26/hickenlooper-colorado-2020-democrats-842596 | Hickenlooper himself admits ]] that his moderate image is likely to be a problem in a Democratic presidential primary. The party’s influential left wing will probably view him with suspicion over his [[ https://denver.cbslocal.com/2014/08/04/monday-is-signature-deadline-for-fracking-measures/ | opposition to anti-fracking efforts ]], [[ https://www.coloradopolitics.com/news/hickenlooper-lawmakers-stand-with-oil-and-gas-at-denver-coga/article_e06e0c5c-f055-5fe7-b82d-cfeefe9858a0.html | sympathies with the oil and gas industry ]] (which once employed him) and [[ https://www.denverpost.com/2014/06/16/gov-hickenloopers-attempt-to-charm-colorado-sheriffs-backfires/ | wishy-washy comments ]] over one of his signature progressive achievements, a gun-control package passed in the wake of the Aurora theater shooting. (Hickenlooper’s reported flirtation with running for president on a “[[ https://www.cnn.com/2017/08/25/politics/kasich-hickenlooper-2020-unity-ticket/index.html | unity ticket ]]” with Republican Ohio Gov. John Kasich probably won’t help, either.)
– [[ https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-john-hickenlooper-could-win-the-2020-democratic-nomination/ | Nathaniel Rakich, FiveThirtyEight ]]