It’s no secret that politicians are extremely image-conscious. Some even go so far as to shave off their mustaches before they run for office.
So it’s hard to believe a politician would willingly parade before a crowd of thousands wearing a pimp’s suit jacket. But there was Denver’s mayor, John Hickenlooper — whose unofficial title in the media has become “Denver’s quirky mayor” — strutting onto the stage at last Saturday’s Democratic state convention wearing a black, velvety-looking jacket with black and white zebra lapels. A real zoot suit riot!
He was making light of the Republican TV ads tying him to Gov. Bill Ritter by saying they’re “politicians of the same stripe” — two tax-loving, job-killing zebras. Get it?
Since he first ran for mayor in 2003, Hickenlooper’s quirkiness and self-deprecating humor have been part of his appeal and his charm. And it’s played well in Denver, where he won re-election in 2007 and remains a popular mayor.
But taking his quirkiness to new Mile High heights as he runs statewide for governor could backfire. The electorate looks a tad angry this year. Will quirky be seen as frivolous?
And wasn’t it only a few weeks ago that he appeared at a press conference in a suit coat covered in strips of duct tape, to mimic, again, zebra stripes? (That ad really got under his hide, so to speak.)
His opponent, Scott McInnis, desperately wants to keep the governor’s race from becoming a personality contest, given hizzoner’s past success playing the role of the aw-shucks mayor.
But at this pace, Hick’s shtick could wear thin long before Election Day. Still, McInnis, sans his long-favored but apparently non-serious mustache, went on the offensive anyway last week, telling Fox 31’s Eli Stokols: “Being governor of Colorado, this is serious business. I think it’s a lot more serious than he’s taking it. There’s people losing jobs every day.”
Politically, McInnis is smart to try to re-focus the race away from personalities. But if in doing so he reveals his own somewhat aggressive personality (as he’s done in some radio interviews), he’ll be in trouble.
If the race comes down to who’s more likeable, McInnis loses.
Elections that don’t involve Simon Cowell or Tom Bergeron shouldn’t be based solely on popularity. But politics is often about the cult of personality.
Remember 2000? George W. Bush simply was more likeable than Al Gore. In 2008, the sheer power of Barack Obama’s personality inspired a cult-like following.
And while I think a candidate’s stance on the issues should come first, personality can be a useful gauge for voters.
A good personality can help a candidate govern later as well. And in those rare moments when the cult of personality transcends mere words — “Ask not what your country can do for you” — to become a movement, charisma can change the world. Franklin Roosevelt’s fireside chats calmed a jittery nation just as Ronald Reagan’s shining city on a hill restored its hope and destiny.
Personality just shouldn’t be the only gauge.
And since neither Hickenlooper, McInnis nor Dan Maes seem to have the charisma of a Roosevelt or Reagan, for the sake of Colorado, it’s time to move on and begin to measure the candidates on the issues and on who can best move the state forward.
We have stacks of issues that need to be dealt with — from the state budget shortfall to the quandary over how to fund higher education and roads to what comes next in Colorado’s push to reform K-12 education. With a little more than five weeks before primary ballots go out, it’s now up to voters and the media to press the candidates on the issues at every turn.
So chill out, McInnis. Speak up, Maes. And shed the zebra stripes, mayor. It’s time to talk turkey.
Editorial page editor Dan Haley can be reached at dhaley@denverpost.com. Follow him on Twitter here.