Kasich And Hickenlooper In 2020? The 'Johns' Consider A Bid

Gov. John Hickenlooper stood at the podium at the National Press Club in June with Ohio Gov. John Kasich at his side. Again. The Democrat from Colorado and the Republican from Ohio had become the Jagger and Richards of the anti-repeal Obamacare movement, playing their increasingly popular tune of "Just Don't Do It."

While it was ultimately the vote of Arizona Sen. John McCain that killed Republican efforts to repeal Obamacare, the two have received a lot of credit for trying to push a bipartisan approach.

Now those efforts may be blossoming into something else.

On Friday morning, Axios reported that the two have discussed the idea of forming a unity ticket to run for the White House in 2020.

They would run as independents with Kasich at the top of the ticket and Hickenlooper as his running mate, a source told Patch. (For more information on store closures and other Colorado stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

The two have been working together since a meeting of the nation's governors in February where they first sounded warnings about what what would happen if Obamacare were fully repealed.

They realized the power of a people from both sides of the aisle working together and started recruiting people from each party.

Since then, the two have held events and made joint appearances on television news programs. The two have spent so much time together that people have started referring to them as the "Johns."

While sources say that both men enjoy working together and spreading the word that people can work across party lines, there are believed to be several obstacles that would block the idea from becoming a reality.

Not the least of which is the fact that just a couple of weeks ago, Hickenlooper poured cold water on the idea.

"That's really not in the cards," he said of the idea. "It's fun to talk about but it's not in the cards."

As Hickenlooper pointed out at the time, it's unlikely the idea would be welcome by the Democrats.

A Kasich-Hickenlooper ticket would likely hurt Democrats more than Republicans, according to strategists.

In the meantime, the two are continuing their efforts to show that people can work together.

They are working to expand their message beyond health care to topics such as immigration and to include other governors in their work.

Photo of the governors at a National Press Club event in June via Mark Wilson/Getty Images News/Getty Images