Hickenlooper for President

A national Democratic robo polling firm reports Governor John Hickenlooper has a 54 percent approval rating with Colorado voters.  They speculated that since he had the third highest approval among the Democratic governors they tested, he is a potential presidential candidate in 2016 – a little premature.

Neither Senators Michael Bennet nor Mark Udall broke 50 percent approval. Hickenlooper’s distinguishing characteristic is his stronger support among Republicans (34% approval) due to some conservative positions, such as budget cutting and his non-partisan image.

A couple of points. Fifty-four percent support is not high for a Colorado governor. Roy Romer and Bill Owens often had approval ratings in the high fifties. But, of course, those were times when we were less polarized and angry with politicians. In fact, Hickenlooper during his term as Denver mayor regularly had an approval and favorability rating in the 70-percent range, both in Denver and in the metro region.

This poll leaned eight points Democratic, more than registration or the November 2010 electorate (PPP poll – 41% Democrat, 33% Republican; registration – there is a 102,000 Republican active voter registration advantage; 2010 exit poll – 33% Democrat, 28% Republican).

See:

Pueblo Chieftain – Hickenlooper scores high on poll

Public Policy Polling – Colorado loves Hickenlooper, Bennet would rout Buck in re-do