The measure of how tethered Democrats are to reality and American values may be the degree to which former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper gains traction in the race for the party’s presidential nomination.

It must be admitted that Hickenlooper is more than a little quirky. He has said he once drank fracking fluid to prove its safety; he did a TV ad walking into a shower while fully dressed, and he took his mother (by mistake, he said) to see the famous X-rated movie “Deep Throat.”