George Will doesn't praise Democrats often but he seems to like Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper, who grew up in Wynnwood, Pa. but went West to seek his fortune.

He found it in beer.

I knew John growing up. We lived in the same neighborhood and played sports together. Though he was two years older, we played on the same Pony League baseball team - The Wynnewood Warriors. My father was an assistant coach.

When my dad passed away this summer John sent me a nice note. They had reconnected in Denver some years ago, when my father became editor of the Denver Post. John had just opened his first of many brew pubs, then got into politics. Eventually, he ran for and became Denver's mayor. Then Colorado's governor.

It is interesting that Will recently wrote about New Jersey's Republican governor Chris Christie. Where Christie is combative and confrontational, Hickenlooper is friendly and disarming. Will finds both governors good fits for the states they govern at this moment in history.

He is, as usual, I think, quite right.