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John Hickenlooper Takes Stage Tuesday Night In Next Presidential Debate

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13min 37sec
Hickenlooper President Announcement Wynkoop
Hart Van Denburg/CPR News
Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper speaks to reporters at Wynkoop Brewing ahead of announcing his entry into the presidential race.

Tonight begins round two of the Democratic presidential debates. John Hickenlooper says he first tried to establish the basics, and in tonight's sequel, from Detroit, he wants to convince the American people why he should be the nominee. Meanwhile, amid a flurry of positive press, Colorado's other candidate, Senator Michael Bennet, is preparing for his appearance on night two. 

Let's frame the issues and the stakes with Stephen Gruber-Miller. He covers politics for the Des Moines Register in Iowa, a state crucial to Hickenlooper's hopes. And Seth Masket directs the Center on American Politics at the University of Denver -- and has written about the presidential campaign for the website 538.