Jeremy Myer over at the Denver newspaper today had an interesting piece on Wil Alston's primary task of raising the profile of Michael Hancock to garner the mayor some national attention. As Myer points out, Hickenlooper as mayor had an enviable national image. His quirky, soft-spoken personality partnered with his sharp political acumen made him seem like the perfect person to represent Denver nationally. Indeed, Hick's term as Denver's de-facto spokesperson culminated in his appearance during the Democratic National Convention in 2008. It's because the Mayor of Denver also serves as a representative of Colorado and its culture that we've always called the position the marquee elected position in Colorado.
The thing is, Michael Hancock is no John Hickenlooper. Not yet, anyway. Hancock's story is certainly inspirational, gripping, and really something admirable. Yet Hancock just doesn't have the same personality as Hick. It's nothing against Hancock; what's made Hickenlooper such a teflon mayor-cum-governor is that he seemed like somebody you'd want to sit down and have a beer with, somebody you could trust because he'd have no reason to lie to you. Hickenlooper's communications shop didn't have to work so hard to promote the mayor's image because John was already a decent ambassador for the state.
We'd be proud to have Michael Hancock take on the same national profile as John Hickenlooper. Still, we feel it's a little too soon for Alston to be shopping around Hancock's story. It feels a little...corporate. While Hancock's rise to mayor would certainly make good fodder for the Today show, it would be even better if Hancock was first given the chance to accomplish something in the office. If Hancock shines in Denver we have no doubt his name will be brought up for Governor or any other statewide office soon enough. However, if Alston succeeds and Hancock assumes a national profile this early on in his administration, his local and national reputation will be damaged ten times more if he doesn't remain popular.
The paradox here is that Alston's communications shop is trying to make Hancock look the natural heir to John Hickenlooper from a national perspective, something that John Hickenlooper would never do or at least admit to doing. The more Alston pushes Hancock's story, the less organic it seems, the less "Hickenlooper-like" it is. What Alston should be doing is letting Hancock inherit the role; instead of pushing Hancock, he should be showcasing how Hancock is, to borrow the slogan, "moving Denver forward." That takes time because it takes more than replacing the welcome voice at DIA or snagging a 3 minute appearance with Matt Lauer to have a track record you can brag about. |
