Mayor still astride fence on running

His clear schedule spurs speculation he might decide today

Alan Gathright And Stuart Steers, Rocky Mountain News

Published February 6, 2006 at midnight

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Three days after Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper vowed to decide whether to run for governor in "the next few days," Colorado's biggest political guessing game has many wondering if today is the day.

The fact that the ever-busy mayor has a clear schedule today, a normally hectic first day of the workweek, had reporters and political observers edgy and sniffing the air.

The mayor's office said Hickenlooper has no public events planned today, except for a 7 p.m. memorial service for Coretta Scott King at New Hope Baptist Church.

After agonizing for nearly two months over whether to run, Hickenlooper stoked anticipation Friday when he told the audience at an affordable housing conference: "I don't think the governor's job could be as much fun as the mayor's job. But I do believe now it probably has greater impact."

Given that "my plan was only to give 10 or 15 years to public service," he added, "If you're going to look at it that way, you should probably try to be as useful and have (the) maximum impact as you can."

Many in the audience interpreted the mayor's comments to mean he had decided the governorship was where he could do the most for Colorado.

Then Hickenlooper gave himself a deadline, saying: "Certainly, within the next few days, I promise we will get it figured out. I know people are sick of talking about it."

Even before that pronouncement, the intensifying speculation over what and when the media-savvy mayor would decide had sparked rumors that Hickenlooper might make an announcement - or even launch TV ads - on Sunday to get a Super Bowl publicity bounce.

The Internet-based group Drafthick.com, which has been campaigning for him to run, noted that Hickenlooper's 54th birthday is Tuesday and asked his backers to send birthday greetings.

The group recalled that on Feb. 7, 1964, the Beatles arrived in New York City and inaugurated "Beatlemania," and it predicted a similar groundswell for Hickenlooper.

"This Tuesday, February 7, on the mayor's 54th birthday, a new type of craze will sweep across Colorado: Loopermania," said an e-mail widely distributed on the Internet.

The group went on to predict that Hickenlooper will run and that there will be "spontaneous outbreaks of confidence in Colorado's electoral system. Rural, suburban, exurban and urban dwellers joining together with new shared optimism. Ice cream tastes more delicious, the sun shines extra bright and columbines sprout early across the state."

The liberal group Progressnowaction.org also asked its supporters to sign a "virtual birthday card" for the mayor.

The group noted that Time magazine had named Hickenlooper one of America's top five mayors and said he "used his collaborative approach to build bonds and partnerships that transcend partisan and geographic lines."

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