Cory Gardner’s, in particular.

The notion was posed – where else? – on Facebook. Sure, anyone can start a Facebook page. Even if it only recycles another item off a long-standing wish list periodically warmed over by aficionados of Gov. John Hickenlooper. Aficianados who acknowledge they have no connection to the governor. They just like him, and they like the idea of bumping off Gardner – a notion to which the governor himself may not have given even a fleeting thought. Then again, maybe he has.

In any event, someone went to the bother of setting up the Hickenlooper for Senate page, amassing likes and cultivating a number of comments from (mostly) well-wishers. And here’s the kickoff post:

The page’s “about” explainer:

And a few acknowledgements by the anonymous author(s):

As for comments to the above post, plenty were supportive:

Some were kind of backhanded:

Some clearly regard the Democratic governor as a traitor to his party’s true liberals/progressives:

And some inevitably redirected the page’s well-intended effort toward a higher office:

Meanwhile, lest anyone cry out, “enough already” with the obsessive-compulsive speculation about Hick’s political prospects, let’s remember the governor almost invites it. Denverite’s Erica Meltzer seemed to get it just right other day, lending some perspective to the latest revelation by the Denver Post that Hick absolutely, positively was NOT going to run for president – no matter what the world thought it heard him tell CNN. Writes Meltzer:

When I read this, I said to the Denverite newsroom, “Wanna bet he says something coy in three months?”

Well, it only took one day. Hickenlooper is at Politico’s annual State Solutions Conference, and he was asked about his comments to the Post. His answer: He’s definitely not running for president. For now.

“I’m trying to make Colorado the strongest economy in America, to have a jobs program that really works,” he said. “Now, down the road, who knows? But I am not, I am not right now – no, no, no, and I’ve always said this.”

It’s as if he thinks we want to be teased.

Of course, we do.