Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
He was a beer maker, a restaurant tour, a mayor,
a governor, and now he is the senator from Colorado,
at least one of the two.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
John Hickenlooper, Welcome.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
To the program.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Glad to be with you. We just had a.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Wonderful conversation that I wish had been on the radio
about about conventions and what is expected to be happening here.
And you've spoken at a convention before. How many conventions
have you been to?
Speaker 2 (00:23):
So I never went to a convention until I had
that reckless idea I was going to run for mayor
of Denver in two thousand and three, so I did.
I obviously went two thousand and four to Boston, and
then two thousand and eight when we hosted the Obama
convention in Denver, which I mean, this convention has got
a lot of excitement. It might even be as much
excitement as Obama had. But that was a wild time
(00:44):
for the city of Dever.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Well, this election is a wild time for Democrats. I
mean it's been I've said multiple times on the show recently.
I used to say anything can happen in politics, and
then this last.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Summer has happened.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
So now it really means anything can happen. Quoted as
as talking about the former or the current president, excuse
me for more, candidate Joe Biden making a decision. Were
you part of that process or were you around that process?
Speaker 2 (01:11):
And how what do you know about that? So I
wasn't involved in the process. I did make comments that
I had known Joe Biden from when I first ran
for mayor. He was in the Senate and I met
him a couple of times. He gave me some advice
when I was thinking about running for governor. He said,
I'll come out, I'll help you. I'll come out and
campaign for you if that's best. I'll campaign against you
(01:33):
if that helps you more. Right. He was his true
Joe Biden's self. My point was when I when I
made comments that Joe Biden has always done what he
thought was best for the country. Who was never one
of these people that talked about me, me me I,
I he always put his his country before his ambition,
and that we should I kept saying, we should trust him,
(01:54):
we should give him time, we should let him make
this decision because he will do what's right. And he
you know, if you look at what we got done
in twenty one and twenty twenty two with Infrastructure Bill,
the Chips plus Science Act, I mean, all those things,
the Inflation Reduction Act. We got more investment into the
(02:15):
building blocks for a strong economy than we've done in
the previous thirty years. And Joe Biden gets a lot
of credit for that. So he was going to go
down as a great president. But he was you know,
there were so many people, so many of you know,
we were getting three thousand calls in those previous three
weeks at our call centers and emails around Denver and
(02:35):
around all of Colorado, and they were ninety two percent
saying that he shouldn't run.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
Well, the switch to Kamala Harris as the candidate has
certainly energized Democrats. I mean the energy here at the
DNC is palpable. I mean, people are excited. And I'm
going to be honest the speed with which the party
has immediately not just to support Kamala Harris, but enthusiastically
(03:04):
support Kamala Harris. So let's be clear about that. This
isn't like, oh, this is our candidate.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
Now. People are stoked. Yeah, were you surprised by that
at all? I was surprised a little bit. But I
you know, in my brief campaign for president back in
twenty twenty, as I tell my wife Robin, I did
get to two percent in the polls.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
That's two percent more than I have.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
You go, well, you're just getting started. You're just getting started.
But I you know, Kamala Harris has a an energy.
She's she's just really electric when she's on her game.
And you know, when she's one of twenty two candidates
running for president twenty twenty, that was not her element, right,
It didn't really show her off to her strength.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
I was going to ask you about that because that
was a big field and she didn't have any support.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
So what do you think.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
Is it just because people are aware that she's part
of the Biden administration and are more aware of her
now than they were back then.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
That's part of it, for sure. She's the vice president
United States and so they're paying more attention. But she's
also grown in these last four years. She's traveled all
over the world. She's met with the smartest scientists, she's
met with the top government leaders from around the world,
and she's been in substantive negotiations around all manner of issues.
So she's grown, I think, dramatically as a person, but
that energy is still there and hearing her stories of
(04:22):
her childhood, I mean, she didn't get any breaks from
her family. Her mother was a determined to make sure
her kids got an education right. That was the building
block of their lives. And obviously Kamal Harris has taken
advantage of that in a way that you know, I mean,
she's got a really good chance of being the next
president of the United States.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
I've been asking as many people as I can. I
wish I had more policy positions officially to ask about,
but she unrolled some economic policy positions last Friday. What
are your thoughts on what she's already said.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
Yeah, I support this notion that we've got to build
the economy for the middle class, where working people for
decades have been slipping behind. When you put it in inflation,
going back all the way to nineteen eighty, the percentage
of this country that is in the middle class has shrunk.
And there are a lot of arguments about why that
is and how to improve that. But I think what
(05:11):
she's talking about, where we're trying to get people back
to work in places where you know, manufacturing like the
auto industry places. But you know, Joe Biden made that
a commitment that he was going to address manufacturing in America,
and we passed those bills. So all of a sudden,
we're building infrastructure, We're building bridges and roads, we're building factories,
we're back in the chip business. These are the kinds
(05:33):
of changes that help the middle class. These are middle
class jobs when you have to build stuff, when you're
building infrastructure.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
That message, I think is one that's going to resonate
because people I have noticed a shift in messaging from
the Biden campaigns saying look at the numbers, the economies
are great, the economy is great. That obviously didn't resonate
with the people that you're talking about, people who are
paying higher prices at the grocery store. So there definitely
has been a shift at this convention in that messaging.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
Yeah, and change is slow, but the bottom of everything
is And this is when I ran for mayor and
Ryan ran for governor. I was the first thing I
always talked about was the economy. How do you how
can you build an economy that's going to grow and
as it grows more people do better. And I think
that's the challenge for any state. I mean, even Colorado.
(06:19):
We've done great. I mean, I think Governor Poles has
done a great job of keeping that tech growth and
yet the same time encouraging advanced manufacturing. We have a
lot of aerospace. All that stuff has to kind of
reinforce each other. But you got to make sure the
working people are participating in that success. And as Colorado
has done that, it hasn't happened everywhere in the country.
(06:41):
And I think that's something that Kamala Harris. I mean,
when you look at her and hear what she's saying,
that's what she's talking about this whole when she talked
to the autoworkers and talked about the importance of freedom.
Freedom to be able to love who you want, freedom
to be able to afford, not to have if you
lose your job for three months, you lose your housing,
not to be you know, freedom for fear of losing
(07:01):
your housing. All those freedoms are things that come from
a more financially secure household or a more financially secure person.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
Well, Senator, I am a deficit hawk. I have been
a deficit hawk for the last twenty years as a
Radio unaware. I've been very disappointed in the Republican Party
and the Democratic Party when it comes to spending. Yesterday
Governor Jared Polis said, look, we've got to do something
about the deficit. I would love it if anyone got
serious about deficit spending in DC. Is that even a
(07:32):
conversation that's happening in DC right now or people like
me just going to sit out here in panic and
wait for the sky to fall.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
No. I I had a meeting right before lunch on
exactly that and looking at some of the big issues
that are affecting that deficit. But you know, taking a
hard look at no one side, not the Republican side,
not the Democrats side, is going to have the answer.
So it's going to be a compromise. No one's going
to be happy with the solution. But the first step
is to recognize, as you say, we've got a deathit
(08:01):
problem is you look at the percentage of GDP. We're
over one hundred percent of GDP.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
Now, no nation thrives with that kind of skewed GDP
to debt ration, and.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
It makes us weaker. And it's not just weaker in
terms of our money for education or for healthcare, but
for the economy, for reinvesting economy, and for our defense.
I mean, we need to be investing in infrastructure, and
we can't just be borrowing it and say we're going
to pay down the road. We need to make those investments,
but we have to all chip in together to make
(08:30):
sure that happens in a way that we can afford it.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
Well, if you want me to come to one of
these meetings and do a whole presentation on the fall
of the Roman Empire because of hyper inflation, because of overspending,
I'd be happy and just put me in coach.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
I'm ready, I can do it.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
What are you looking forward to tonight from the speakers?
We've got Pete Bodhaje Edge, We've got Bill Clinton. Obviously,
Tim Walls is going to accept the nomination for Vice
president tonight. What are you looking for out of tonight's speeches.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
Well, so I haven't gotten a chance to spend time
with Tim Walls yet because I wasn't in the house
when he was in the House office ever been in
the House. And I'm looking forward to seeing firsthand on
a real you know, national landscape on a big screen,
see what he's about I also, I mean Pete Bodhajedge.
You know, one of the reasons I only got to
two percent when I was right for president was he
(09:16):
came in and he is so adept at explaining complex issues,
especially economic issues, in a way that's you're at the
kitchen table accessible accessible, which you know Bill Clinton was
very good with that as well. And I can't wait
to see Buddha Jedge talking and then here Clinton talking.
And obviously Bill Clinton's not, you know, forty five years
old or fifty years old anymore, He's not going to
(09:38):
be maybe quite as sharp as he was. But I
talked to Clinton a few months ago and he was
as sharp as attack. So i'd like to I can't
wait to see the two of them, see how they
frame the moment.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
Oh, that's a good way to look at it. Senator Johnhickenloper,
I appreciate your time. I know you got other stuff
to do, but thank you so much for stopping by
today and talking to my listeners.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
No, always pleasure.
He was a beer maker, a restaurant tour, a mayor,
a governor, and now he is the senator from Colorado,
at least one of the two.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
John Hickenlooper, Welcome.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
To the program.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Glad to be with you. We just had a.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Wonderful conversation that I wish had been on the radio
about about conventions and what is expected to be happening here.
And you've spoken at a convention before. How many conventions
have you been to?
Speaker 2 (00:23):
So I never went to a convention until I had
that reckless idea I was going to run for mayor
of Denver in two thousand and three, so I did.
I obviously went two thousand and four to Boston, and
then two thousand and eight when we hosted the Obama
convention in Denver, which I mean, this convention has got
a lot of excitement. It might even be as much
excitement as Obama had. But that was a wild time
(00:44):
for the city of Dever.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Well, this election is a wild time for Democrats. I
mean it's been I've said multiple times on the show recently.
I used to say anything can happen in politics, and
then this last.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Summer has happened.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
So now it really means anything can happen. Quoted as
as talking about the former or the current president, excuse
me for more, candidate Joe Biden making a decision. Were
you part of that process or were you around that process?
Speaker 2 (01:11):
And how what do you know about that? So I
wasn't involved in the process. I did make comments that
I had known Joe Biden from when I first ran
for mayor. He was in the Senate and I met
him a couple of times. He gave me some advice
when I was thinking about running for governor. He said,
I'll come out, I'll help you. I'll come out and
campaign for you if that's best. I'll campaign against you
(01:33):
if that helps you more. Right. He was his true
Joe Biden's self. My point was when I when I
made comments that Joe Biden has always done what he
thought was best for the country. Who was never one
of these people that talked about me, me me I,
I he always put his his country before his ambition,
and that we should I kept saying, we should trust him,
(01:54):
we should give him time, we should let him make
this decision because he will do what's right. And he
you know, if you look at what we got done
in twenty one and twenty twenty two with Infrastructure Bill,
the Chips plus Science Act, I mean, all those things,
the Inflation Reduction Act. We got more investment into the
(02:15):
building blocks for a strong economy than we've done in
the previous thirty years. And Joe Biden gets a lot
of credit for that. So he was going to go
down as a great president. But he was you know,
there were so many people, so many of you know,
we were getting three thousand calls in those previous three
weeks at our call centers and emails around Denver and
(02:35):
around all of Colorado, and they were ninety two percent
saying that he shouldn't run.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
Well, the switch to Kamala Harris as the candidate has
certainly energized Democrats. I mean the energy here at the
DNC is palpable. I mean, people are excited. And I'm
going to be honest the speed with which the party
has immediately not just to support Kamala Harris, but enthusiastically
(03:04):
support Kamala Harris. So let's be clear about that. This
isn't like, oh, this is our candidate.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
Now. People are stoked. Yeah, were you surprised by that
at all? I was surprised a little bit. But I
you know, in my brief campaign for president back in
twenty twenty, as I tell my wife Robin, I did
get to two percent in the polls.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
That's two percent more than I have.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
You go, well, you're just getting started. You're just getting started.
But I you know, Kamala Harris has a an energy.
She's she's just really electric when she's on her game.
And you know, when she's one of twenty two candidates
running for president twenty twenty, that was not her element, right,
It didn't really show her off to her strength.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
I was going to ask you about that because that
was a big field and she didn't have any support.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
So what do you think.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
Is it just because people are aware that she's part
of the Biden administration and are more aware of her
now than they were back then.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
That's part of it, for sure. She's the vice president
United States and so they're paying more attention. But she's
also grown in these last four years. She's traveled all
over the world. She's met with the smartest scientists, she's
met with the top government leaders from around the world,
and she's been in substantive negotiations around all manner of issues.
So she's grown, I think, dramatically as a person, but
that energy is still there and hearing her stories of
(04:22):
her childhood, I mean, she didn't get any breaks from
her family. Her mother was a determined to make sure
her kids got an education right. That was the building
block of their lives. And obviously Kamal Harris has taken
advantage of that in a way that you know, I mean,
she's got a really good chance of being the next
president of the United States.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
I've been asking as many people as I can. I
wish I had more policy positions officially to ask about,
but she unrolled some economic policy positions last Friday. What
are your thoughts on what she's already said.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
Yeah, I support this notion that we've got to build
the economy for the middle class, where working people for
decades have been slipping behind. When you put it in inflation,
going back all the way to nineteen eighty, the percentage
of this country that is in the middle class has shrunk.
And there are a lot of arguments about why that
is and how to improve that. But I think what
(05:11):
she's talking about, where we're trying to get people back
to work in places where you know, manufacturing like the
auto industry places. But you know, Joe Biden made that
a commitment that he was going to address manufacturing in America,
and we passed those bills. So all of a sudden,
we're building infrastructure, We're building bridges and roads, we're building factories,
we're back in the chip business. These are the kinds
(05:33):
of changes that help the middle class. These are middle
class jobs when you have to build stuff, when you're
building infrastructure.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
That message, I think is one that's going to resonate
because people I have noticed a shift in messaging from
the Biden campaigns saying look at the numbers, the economies
are great, the economy is great. That obviously didn't resonate
with the people that you're talking about, people who are
paying higher prices at the grocery store. So there definitely
has been a shift at this convention in that messaging.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
Yeah, and change is slow, but the bottom of everything
is And this is when I ran for mayor and
Ryan ran for governor. I was the first thing I
always talked about was the economy. How do you how
can you build an economy that's going to grow and
as it grows more people do better. And I think
that's the challenge for any state. I mean, even Colorado.
(06:19):
We've done great. I mean, I think Governor Poles has
done a great job of keeping that tech growth and
yet the same time encouraging advanced manufacturing. We have a
lot of aerospace. All that stuff has to kind of
reinforce each other. But you got to make sure the
working people are participating in that success. And as Colorado
has done that, it hasn't happened everywhere in the country.
(06:41):
And I think that's something that Kamala Harris. I mean,
when you look at her and hear what she's saying,
that's what she's talking about this whole when she talked
to the autoworkers and talked about the importance of freedom.
Freedom to be able to love who you want, freedom
to be able to afford, not to have if you
lose your job for three months, you lose your housing,
not to be you know, freedom for fear of losing
(07:01):
your housing. All those freedoms are things that come from
a more financially secure household or a more financially secure person.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
Well, Senator, I am a deficit hawk. I have been
a deficit hawk for the last twenty years as a
Radio unaware. I've been very disappointed in the Republican Party
and the Democratic Party when it comes to spending. Yesterday
Governor Jared Polis said, look, we've got to do something
about the deficit. I would love it if anyone got
serious about deficit spending in DC. Is that even a
(07:32):
conversation that's happening in DC right now or people like
me just going to sit out here in panic and
wait for the sky to fall.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
No. I I had a meeting right before lunch on
exactly that and looking at some of the big issues
that are affecting that deficit. But you know, taking a
hard look at no one side, not the Republican side,
not the Democrats side, is going to have the answer.
So it's going to be a compromise. No one's going
to be happy with the solution. But the first step
is to recognize, as you say, we've got a deathit
(08:01):
problem is you look at the percentage of GDP. We're
over one hundred percent of GDP.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
Now, no nation thrives with that kind of skewed GDP
to debt ration, and.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
It makes us weaker. And it's not just weaker in
terms of our money for education or for healthcare, but
for the economy, for reinvesting economy, and for our defense.
I mean, we need to be investing in infrastructure, and
we can't just be borrowing it and say we're going
to pay down the road. We need to make those investments,
but we have to all chip in together to make
(08:30):
sure that happens in a way that we can afford it.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
Well, if you want me to come to one of
these meetings and do a whole presentation on the fall
of the Roman Empire because of hyper inflation, because of overspending,
I'd be happy and just put me in coach.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
I'm ready, I can do it.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
What are you looking forward to tonight from the speakers?
We've got Pete Bodhaje Edge, We've got Bill Clinton. Obviously,
Tim Walls is going to accept the nomination for Vice
president tonight. What are you looking for out of tonight's speeches.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
Well, so I haven't gotten a chance to spend time
with Tim Walls yet because I wasn't in the house
when he was in the House office ever been in
the House. And I'm looking forward to seeing firsthand on
a real you know, national landscape on a big screen,
see what he's about I also, I mean Pete Bodhajedge.
You know, one of the reasons I only got to
two percent when I was right for president was he
(09:16):
came in and he is so adept at explaining complex issues,
especially economic issues, in a way that's you're at the
kitchen table accessible accessible, which you know Bill Clinton was
very good with that as well. And I can't wait
to see Buddha Jedge talking and then here Clinton talking.
And obviously Bill Clinton's not, you know, forty five years
old or fifty years old anymore, He's not going to
(09:38):
be maybe quite as sharp as he was. But I
talked to Clinton a few months ago and he was
as sharp as attack. So i'd like to I can't
wait to see the two of them, see how they
frame the moment.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
Oh, that's a good way to look at it. Senator Johnhickenloper,
I appreciate your time. I know you got other stuff
to do, but thank you so much for stopping by
today and talking to my listeners.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
No, always pleasure.
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