Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper has created a political-action committee to test the water for a possible 2020 presidential bid — but the real test will be if Democrats can embrace a pro-business moderate, The Atlantic reported.
Hickenlooper — seen as the antithesis to President Donald Trump, according to The Atlantic — launched his Giddy Up PAC on Monday, and is stumping for Democrats in Florida and Georgia as he gauges his political viability outside Colorado.
"If I'm serious about running for president — really giving it the thought it needs and talking to the right people and building up a network of people who would aggressively support a moderate, someone in the present politics that's somewhat of a longshot — I've got to do two jobs simultaneously," he told The Atlantic.
"Plus, I've got a 16-year-old son who's not undemanding, to use a double negative."
His new PAC will help build financial, influential, and grassroots support — but he is late to the game among those who have begun their own PACs for possible White House bids, The Atlantic noted.
"There are plenty of people out there trying to get people stirred up," Hickenlooper told The Atlantic. "I think there is also room for people who are trying to get stuff done and answer how we're going to move the country forward as we go through this very difficult period."
Asked if he hears encouragement from voters about running for president, Hickenlooper tells The Atlantic: "Not so much outside Colorado. In Colorado, I get it."
Veteran GOP operative Dick Wadhams, who was the state party chairman when Hickenlooper won his first statewide race in 2010, said he thinks the governor would make a strong general-election foe — especially compared with prospective Democratic contenders who are "somersaulting over each other to be more progressive and socialist than the next," The Atlantic reported.
But Wadhams told the news outlet predicts Hickenlooper's defense of fracking and the oil-and-gas industry "makes him virtually un-nominatable."
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