Leadership Quote by John Hickenlooper

A politician predicting his own scandal is either radical transparency or preemptive damage control; Hickenlooper’s genius here is making both feel like civic maturity. The first sentence is disarmingly fatalistic: “Some day” turns wrongdoing into weather, inevitable and impersonal. That move quietly lowers the temperature. If scandal is guaranteed, then outrage becomes less a moral reckoning than a logistical phase the city will “address” and “deal with.” The language is managerial, not penitential.

The subtext is a hedge against the media cycle. “There will be a scandal to report in the paper” frames accountability as something that happens because journalists need copy, not because citizens deserve answers. It’s a subtle re-centering: the scandal isn’t primarily an ethical breach, it’s a headline event. That’s not cynical in the obvious way; it’s pragmatic in the modern way, acknowledging that governance now comes with a permanent surveillance apparatus and a predictably hungry audience.

Then comes the reassuring script: “honestly and openly,” “quickly and as fairly as we can.” The repeated qualifiers (“try,” “as we can”) are doing important work. They promise intent rather than outcomes, which is safer, but also signals a realistic understanding of institutional constraints.

The closing clause, “keep moving the city forward,” is the real pivot. It invites listeners to see scandal as a bump in a progress narrative, not a referendum on legitimacy. In context, it’s a brand statement: competence over drama, continuity over catharsis, and an implicit request that voters value results enough to forgive the messiness that comes with power.