Politico:

Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper wrote in The Wall Street Journal Sunday that he is “running to save capitalism,” lobbing criticism at politicians at either end of the political spectrum who he said pose dire threats to the nation’s economic success.

The 2020 presidential hopeful dinged his fellow Democratic primary contenders, some of whom have embraced policies labeled by some as socialism. But the former small business owner-turned-governor whacked conservatives as well for pushing deregulatory policies, headlining his Journal op-ed piece with a declaration that “I’m running to save capitalism.”

Hickenlooper blamed growing income inequality for voters’ willingness to back politicians threatening to uproot traditional capitalism, but argued that both Democrats and Republicans were approaching the issue incorrectly. He offered a firm defense of an economic system that has mostly been hammered on the 2020 Democratic campaign trail.

“Capitalism is the only economic system that can support a strong middle class, a growing economy, and innovative entrepreneurs leading global technological advancements,” he wrote. “Yet for too many Americans, capitalism simply isn’t working.”