Friend,
With you being one of my earliest supporters, I want to tell you why I decided to run for president, in my own words. Check out this video for the short and sweet version.
Friend, we need a candidate who can beat Donald Trump and bring us together on the other side to make real progress.
We are facing a profound crisis, a crisis of division; we are more polarized than any time in generations.
Since Day 1 of his candidacy, Donald Trump has divided our country and threatened our democracy, attacked the middle class and alienated our allies. Under his administration, real people are being hurt. Real families are being separated. And Trump’s reckless withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement has put our planet and our future under threat (an agreement we still adhere to in Colorado, by the way—as Governor, I made sure of it).
We hurtle from crisis to crisis as our democracy crumbles, but we never move forward—only farther apart.
We need a new leader—one who will restore our democratic norms, our international stature, and our national commitment to dignity and opportunity for all. But to actually get there, we need someone with a track record of getting people to put down their weapons, listen to each other, and work together in support of progress.
We need a leader who is, above all, about bringing people together to get things done—and I believe my experiences have prepared me to seek the progressive solutions our nation so urgently needs.
My own story is about facing challenges, large and small.
When I lost my father at the age of 8, I started to live by one of my mom’s guiding principles: “You can’t control what life throws at you, but you can control how you respond.” I grew up a skinny kid with a funny last name and coke bottle glasses, so I experienced my fair share of bullies. But I learned, with the help of humor and resilience, to never give up.
After college, I became a geologist, mapping what lay beneath the earth’s surface. I thought I had my life pretty figured out and all my boxes checked.
But then, I was laid off—along with thousands of other geologists.
I lost not only my job, but also my profession. After a few months of unemployment, I started to see another person in the mirror. If you’ve been laid off, you know how it goes: Everything you thought you knew and liked about yourself gets called into question.
But in time, with my mom’s wisdom guiding me, I took back control. I got up. I got a library book on how to write a business plan, and I got to work. Eventually, with the help of friends, I turned a historic but abandoned building in Denver into the first brewpub in the Rocky Mountain West. Working together with other small businesses, we transformed twenty-six dilapidated blocks into a vibrant new neighborhood that never looked back.
The experience transformed me, too. Throwing myself into neighborhood revitalization and community organizations led me to look around for bigger problems to help solve. And there were more than a few: In 2002, Denver itself faced a $70 million budget shortfall, a stagnating economy, and insufficient public transit.
I saw a chance to make a difference, so with the encouragement of my community, I ran for mayor—and won.
As mayor, together with leaders from surrounding communities, I tackled Denver’s challenges. We got efficient public transit in place, we implemented criminal justice reform, and we even managed to balance our budget—without major service cuts or layoffs. Eventually, Denver became a national model for what a city could be. And I decided to keep going and see how I could serve Colorado as a whole.
I was humbled when the people of Colorado chose me as their Governor. In my two terms, we continued to bring people together to pursue progressive goals and get things done: guiding our state through fires, floods, and recession, getting 95% of Coloradans insured, taking our economy from 40th in job creation to the number one economy in the nation, and passing some of the toughest environmental standards in the country.
But there were bullies to stand up to then, too. When gun violence shattered Aurora, Colorado on July 20, 2012, the NRA tried to drown out the voices of people calling for action. I stood up to the NRA, and Colorado became the first western state to pass universal background checks and ban high-capacity magazines.
My second and final term as Colorado’s Governor ended in December, and since then, I’ve been listening—and people across the country have told me they are ready to move past divisive rhetoric and build a better future. That’s what I’ve done in Colorado, and that’s what I want to do for our country.
That’s great, Hickenlooper, you say. So, what are the problems we need to tackle straight away?
Health care—it’s a right, not a privilege.
Tax fairness—putting the middle class first, not the wealthy few.
The future of the American worker—lifelong, affordable, versatile education so people can succeed in our changing economy.
Climate change—we need to rejoin the Paris Agreement and transition to a renewable economy, stat.
Civil rights and social justice—equality, opportunity, security, and dignity for all Americans. Donald Trump’s rhetoric has torn us apart—we need to repair the seams.
These are some of the most urgent problems we face—and together we can take them on while standing tall in the face of attacks and nonsense from the other side (including the bully in the White House).
Friend, it’s time to repair the damage done to our country. It’s time to make our democracy work again. It’s time to stand tall together and commit to a better path forward.
If you’re ready to help me in realizing that vision for our country, show it today by joining our campaign. We’re accepting no corporate PAC money—just people like you.
If you can, please chip in today. Your donation will represent more than a dollar amount—it will represent our first steps toward solutions to the challenges we face, and toward a better future for all.
Thank you,
John
|
