What do you look for in a presidential candidate? Smart? Articulate? Good looking? Western? Some voters are single-issue voters, meaning a stance on one particular issue determines support. Other voters look at the totality of the candidates and their belief systems. But one common thread, with a few interesting exceptions, is where these candidates tend to come from, jobwise. Here in Colorado, we have two examples of more traditional paths to the White House in the form of former-Governor Hickenlooper and current U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet. I worked for the later for four years, and I support him. Both these gents are taking tried but true paths to the Oval Office, while others, including the incumbent, do not. Does it matter?

We’ve elected quite a few vice presidents to the presidency, most recently the late George H.W. Bush, who was elected in 1988 as the sitting VP. (Quick aside – one day during that 1988 campaign I was with my family in Denver. We saw a political event was being set up on a street corner, and in a few moments, we saw the VP and Mrs. Bush exit their vehicle and walk around the intersection, shaking hands with voters. I placed my then-4-year-old son on my shoulders and quickly explained whom he was about to meet. Mr. Bush shook my hand and reached up kindly to shake my son’s. As he walked away, he said loudly “but why does he want to be president?” Upon hearing that, Mrs. Bush turned back to my son, laughed, and said “I really don’t know.”)

We also elect governors, such as Jimmy Carter, George W. Bush, and Ronald Reagan to the White House. One path that has oft been followed but with uneven success has been sitting senators. Given how many of them are running on the Democratic side, it’s possible that this election may see a sitting senator elected. But then-Sen. Obama was only the third senator to win, so it seems clear that the Senate is at least a difficult steppingstone to higher office.

One fact is that it is easier to run if you are a former something than a current one. Mr. Hickenlooper has an advantage in being currently unemployed, while Sen. Bennet must find time to campaign in addition to very significant senatorial duties. Mayor Pete Buttigieg would be the first successful sitting mayor to be elected should he win. I don’t really know what Marianne Williamson’s “moral and spiritual awakening” would be, but I don’t think we need worry too much about that campaign picking up steam. We have one former Cabinet secretary running, Julian Castro, but given that we haven’t elected a Cabinet member since Hoover in 1921, I wouldn’t guess that he’ll be especially successful.

We’ve got current and former members of the House of Representatives in the mix and I guess Bernie Sanders is briefly a Democrat again. Oh, and we have a “businessman (though not a very good one) turned TV reality star” currently in the White House, which I suspect demonstrates what being independently wealthy can bring as a helping hand.

So, historically, for whom would you vote, if your only goal was to pick a winner? Odds are an unemployed former governor or vice president would be your best bet. That’s good news for Hick and bad news for Bennet. That said, the last couple of election cycles, starting especially with the Obama machine in 2008, are finding new and micro-targeted ways to reach voters. Today, any successful candidate must put him or herself forward fully on social media. You can no longer depend on TV ads alone, though Hickenlooper’s famous shower advertisement helped put him on the map and might do so again. Bennet has the task of trying to convince voters that massive and moderate intellect and a passion for hard work is very important in a POTUS candidate, as opposed to more shallow things. History does not suggest we demand brilliant intellects in our presidents.

History can be an excellent teacher, but it also offers cautionary tales. If I had to pick a candidate to win in 2020, and could only pick on the basis of background, history suggests one of the governors running would be best. If you believe the Obama model is still accurate, you’d lean toward a senator. Those factors would suggest that Colorado’s own twosome might well be very strong candidates. I believe, however, in this social-media-soaked world, such qualifications may point to a possible vice-presidential pick, rather than the top of the ticket.

Regardless though, Colorado is in an interesting position to potentially be more influential than our population and location might suggest. Will Colorado school children be reading about a Colorado president? Very possibly in the next 20 years or so, and who knows, maybe much sooner.

Hal Bidlack is a retired professor of political science and a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel who taught more than 17 years at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.