At drafthick.com, $15.50 buys you a T-shirt with a picture of Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper standing by Rosie the Riveter, who is saying, “We Can Do It!” The “it” is a movement that political experts say is unprecedented in Colorado and perhaps the country.
Nobody has seen anything like the ongoing attempt to draft Hickenlooper to run for governor.
That includes Colorado College professor Bob Loevy and Colorado State University professor John Straayer, the deans of the state’s political scientists.
“In 37 years, I have never seen a (statewide) campaign this active,” Loevy said. “It is highly unusual. And that’s particularly true if this is an honest draft and not something planned by Hickenlooper.”
Added Straayer: “This is a step beyond anything I’ve seen. And I’ve never read about anything like it elsewhere.”
Political pollster Floyd Ciruli doesn’t think the Draft Hick movement reflects problems with ex-Denver District Attorney Bill Ritter, the Democrats’ only announced candidate for governor. Ciruli likened Hickenlooper’s appeal to ex-New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
“He has managed to transcend normal politics,” Ciruli said. “He operates as a problem solver” with a sense of humor.
Ciruli thinks Hickenlooper will be Colorado’s next governor if he runs.
It’s a big if.
“I don’t think drafts work,” said political consultant Maria Garcia Berry, who supports potential Hickenlooper opponent Bob Beauprez and whose CRL Associates consults on government issues. “You have to say, ‘I want to do this.”‘
Hickenlooper declined to talk about the Draft Hick movement. His spokeswoman insisted the mayor has no idea who is behind it and has no plans to run for governor. Asked Tuesday if the mayor would issue a statement saying, “I will categorically not run for governor in 2006,” Hickenlooper’s spokeswoman, Lindy Eichenbaum Lent, said, “We hadn’t planned to issue such a statement, nor do we think it is necessary. No matter what we say, people hear what they want to hear. At some point, I would expect the mayor to endorse someone.”
Meanwhile, the anonymous Draft Hick forces ratcheted up pressure on Sunday, distributing an e-mail that referred readers to the drafthick.com website.
“Some very sophisticated talent went into the website,” admitted Colorado Democratic chairwoman Pat Waak, who insists she doesn’t know who paid for it.
The site features an online store selling Draft Hickenlooper T-shirts, caps, buttons and bumper stickers.
The website also includes a “Draft Hick e-kit.” The kit provides a reprintable “Draft Hickenlooper” flier, along with a page of “Draft Hick Action Steps” that instructs people to post fliers, write letters to editors and talk to neighbors and friends.
SAVVIS, an Internet company that runs the site, won’t reveal who paid for it. The Internet site is just another twist in a year-long effort to get Hickenlooper to run, said Waak, who emphasized her neutrality as party chief. “I have never seen a draft movement like this before.”
Waak does, however, understand why it has lately become so intense.
“The time for holding back is over,” she said. “We must decide on a candidate by March 21.”
“If you look at the polls,” Waak added, Hickenlooper “scores very high” in popularity. “He scares Republicans.”
The mayor’s stock improved with last week’s statewide victory of a referendum that lets Colorado keep more revenue. Hickenlooper supported the referendum in a popular commercial in which he parachuted from an airplane.
Although the Denver City Council just delivered the mayor his first major political slap by changing his budget in order to hire more cops, his political capital may never be more valuable.
Whether an anonymous, well-financed Web-based Draft Hick movement can convince Hickenlooper of that is uncertain.
It’s like “an electronic cheerleader,” Straayer said. “I’m not sure that sort of thing is going to move him.”
Still, Loevy said, lacking a categorical denial, “he’s at least listening.”
Jim Spencer’s column appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday. He can be reached at 303-820-1771 or jspencer@denverpost.com.
