CNN town hall could be a big opportunity for John Hickenlooper's presidential hopes

Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper will participate in a CNN town hall in Atlanta on March 20, the news channel announced Wednesday morning.

The Democrat has been on a media tour since announcing his presidential run March 7, most recently appearing on “Late Night with Seth Meyers” Tuesday night. With that appearance, the former governor has now appeared on each of the three big networks.

Hickenlooper’s appearances, aimed to raise his national profile, have not gone unnoticed. But early reviews have been mixed. During his first national interview as a candidate, Hickenlooper said he’d sit down and try to work things out with Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell. Editorial writers dismissed the remarks as out of touch.

Then in an interview with MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough, Hickenlooper stumbled over whether he identifies as a capitalist. Hickenlooper’s broader point, which he clarified in later interviews and in a blog post on the website Medium, was that the president is using labels to divide Americans. The essay on Medium came after President Donald Trump attacked Hickenlooper in an interview with the conservative news organization Breitbart.

Read more: https://www.denverpost.com/2019/03/13/john-hickenlooper-cnn-town-hall/