Democratic presidential candidate John Hickenlooper, the former governor of Colorado, was in Burlington, Vermont Saturday night to discuss his campaign and his home state’s groundbreaking move to legalize marijuana.
Hickenlooper was originally booked to appear in Burlington to discuss Colorado’s marijuana system as Vermont legislators consider how to tax and regulate recreational marijuana. Just three weeks before his appearance, Hickenlooper announced he was joining the growing list of Democrats running for president.
Glover resident Nicholas Ecker-Racz is closely following the election and the candidates. “You don’t hear about the minor players. All you hear about is Bernie and a few other people. I don’t think he has any chance the first year he puts his name out there. I was kind of interested in Tulsi Gabbard but I’ve never even heard her name out here. I’ve seen Mr. Hickenlooper once too.”
Waterbury resident Eric Gross was more interested in hearing Hickenlooper’s perspectives on cannabis. “I’ve had my medical card since 2003 in California and I’ve had it in Vermont for a couple of years. And I’m interested in what Vermont is doing with it. My biggest concern is probably outside investment, out-of-state investment in Vermont and just watering down the industry. I got the tickets before he said he was running for president so the political part of it and the cannabis part of it I’m kind of interested to see how he like straddles the line.”
The appearance by Governor Hickenlooper was arranged by VTDigger, an online investigative newspaper. On stage he was questioned by Jen Kimmich, co-owner of the Alchemist Brewery. Following an initial conversation on his background in geology, being laid off in 1988 and subsequently founding a successful brewery in Denver, the duo delved deeper into the issues.
Kimmich: “Can you talk about the critical role that immigrants, legal and illegal, play in Colorado?”
Hickenlooper: “Sure and I’m an unabashed supporter of immigration. I think that this country was built on immigration. All manner of our jobs are going unfilled and many of them are high skilled, but not all of them. There’s no machinery yet there’s no robot that will go out and pick apples or pick blueberries. And right now we’re at the edge in Colorado where we’re not getting all of our crops harvested. Look at construction jobs a lot of those jobs people can’t get them filled. We’ve got to rethink our immigration program. Obviously we need to have an ID system that works. To continue this non-functioning status quo is self destructive.”
During a discussion on how Colorado is addressing health care, Hickenlooper added that the reason he is running is the divisiveness in the country. “I think this country is in a crisis of division. Right? Trump is the symptom. I mean defeating Trump in my opinion, I’m sure there are Republicans here but I think (slight laughter from audience) maybe not in Burlington! (Laughter) I think defeating Donald Trump is absolutely essential but it is not sufficient. We’ve got to begin figuring out how we’re going to bring this country back together again.”
Kimmich: “If you become president what will you do to start uniting and healing this country?”
Hickenlooper: “I don’t think we’ve been this divided probably since the Civil War. And we have serious serious challenges to face. These are all issues that we can’t tackle when we’re divided. And I really I look at the other candidates who are you know visionaries and dreamers. They’re mostly you know senators and congresspeople. I mean it’s good to have dreamers and I’m a dreamer too but I’m also a doer.”
As he sat in a theater across the street from the city hall where Bernie Sanders once served as mayor, Governor Hickenlooper was asked why he thinks he would be a better president than Senator Sanders. “You will not hear me criticize Senator Bernie Sanders. And and what he did (some applause) Well absolutely. I mean what he did was crystallize the issues of the entire country in concise well thought out positions. And while I don’t agree with all of his solutions I really salute his ability to create that clarity and allow people to get to the crux of some of the most important issues facing this country.”
Democrat and former Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper is one of at least 15 Democrats running for U.S. President. Recent polls show him with less than 1 percent support.
