9News anchor Kyle Clark recently interviewed David Gregory, host of "Meet The Press," and asked him, among other things, about Colorado's "swing state" status in the upcoming 2012 presidential election.
"As a swing state, it's a state that the Obama campaign is relying on keeping as part of a coalition of states that have a lot of independent voters and Hispanics, it becomes very important," Gregory said to Clark in describing Obama's focus on Colorado. "In fact, the Rocky Mountain West to the Obama campaign is one of the reasons they think they can win this thing without Florida or Ohio -- so it really doesn't get more important than that," Gregory said.
In September of 2011, The Denver Post's Mike Littwin reported that Colorado has moved up the priority list for potential presidents interested in winning the office. Littwin quotes elections expert Larry Sabato who said that the once red, newly blue, but mostly purple Colorado has achieved "super-swing-state" status. A distinction that only seven states hold -- Florida, Ohio, Virginia, Nevada, Iowa, New Hampshire, and now: Colorado. Littwin even takes it a step further saying Colorado may be the only super-swing state -- meaning that if Obama doesn't win here, he won't win at all in 2012.
According to The Huffington Post's 2012 Electoral Map, Colorado's 9 electoral votes are definitely in play. Out of Colorado's last three presidential election cycles, only 2008's turned the state blue and as such the state is ranked as a "tossup" for either Obama or Mitt Romney.
Later in the interview, Clark also addresses the constantly swirling rumors of Gov. John Hickenlooper possibly running for president in 2016 or beyond and asks Gregory about the prospects of a Hickenlooper presidential run.
"I think there is some feeling that he could," Gregory said. "I still think there's a lot of room for his name recognition and recognizability to grow, but I think he's certainly someone that has been heard on the national stage and is part of the mix of people who I think have a future that will be looked at pretty seriously by the party."
When asked about his often rumored presidential run earlier in the year, Hick jokingly said that he'd rather be commissioner of Major League Baseball.
WATCH [via 9News] Clark's excellent interview with Gregory above.