A comparison of sorts can be made between Republicans in Colorado and Democrats on a national scale.

Both are in political disrepair; both have suffered major damage to their brand; neither are trusted by vast numbers of voters with the keys to government.

There will be time aplenty to dissect the daily, hourly excesses of this far more calculating Trump administration to go along with the boot-licking, sycophantic acquiescence of far too many in his party who put personal loyalty or intimidation ahead of their institutional responsibilities.

But the corollary question must be asked of how Democrats managed to lose, rather decisively, to a person and party who did not exactly make a secret of their intentions.

In both red and purple states and even to a growing extent in blue locales, voters looked around and did not like what they saw where Democrats were in charge. Across the country, they felt lied to by the Democratic Party and its media mouthpieces when it came to the obviously diminished capabilities of the previous president.

At the federal level and doubly so in one big city after another, all prominently led by Democratic mayors, voters found leadership focused on the wrong things, given to excess and beholden to the loudest, most extreme voices in their coalition.

With an eye especially on urban America where Democrats still hold the reins, the widespread perception is that of disorder and decline. Big cities are seen as crime-ridden and over-priced, with homelessness all too prevalent and decay widespread.

Given that these big cities are where Democrats still exert control along with a number of state capitols, voters will increasingly look in those directions to judge whether the party has learned and adapted. In simple terms, voters will demand to see that Democrats are capable of governing where they are already in charge before adding to their terrain or again placing the Washington levers in their hands.

Which is where Denver Mayor Mike Johnston enters the equation. He is already a player of national stature and certainly of national ambition.

Johnston’s colleagues among the top ranks of Democratic mayors are hardly an overwhelming lot. Eric Adams in New York, Brandon Johnson in Chicago and Karen Bass in Los Angeles seem entirely over-matched.

Under indictment, Adams’s approval rating resembles the temperature during Colorado’s recent cold snap. Johnson weighs in with similarly dismal approval numbers without the excuse of pending criminal charges. His spending plan is described as “budget busting” and crime is, well, it’s Chicago. Add it all up and the city is experiencing record out-migration.

LA’s Bass had the abysmal judgment to be in Ghana on a government junket when fire broke out across her city. Her administration has been defined by an obsession with DEI doctrine while housing costs continue to be exorbitant due in large part to regulatory straitjackets.

Democrats across the country are desperate for accomplishment when it comes to big-city leadership. Johnston has the opportunity to answer that hunger.

At this point a year and a half into Johnston’s tenure, any fair-minded grade would have to be “incomplete.”

Johnston had led the effort to get a couple of thousand homeless individuals off the streets and into shelter. Yet, the overall homeless count continues to rise. There is unquestionable value in improving individual circumstances but the evidence is that the problem is still expanding.

Housing affordability remains a crisis to go along with the overall cost of living. Those who are struggling or just getting started are being forced to leave. Downtown remains an uninspired mess, not close to a rebound from the hollowing out of the pandemic.

Crimes rates are marginally down, yet appalling instances of violent crime and scary cases of property crime are still all too frequent. The police department remains well below its authorized strength.

City Council increasingly challenges Johnston from the outer precincts of the ultra-progressive left, following a pattern that cost Democrats dearly this past November. Johnston also suffered a rare mayoral rejection when voters turned thumbs-down on his not-ready-for-prime-time ballot proposal for housing funds.

Across Denver, while there is broad sympathy and support for the homeless as well as immigrant families, a sense prevails that funding priorities are out of whack and core city services are short-changed. Johnston brings boundless energy to any task along with high intelligence.

His political ambition is no secret.

No matter the formidable challenge, if he can write a success story in Denver that answers the broader doubts as to whether Democrats can govern, he could be part of the comeback for Democrats currently deep into depression and outrage.

Eric Sondermann is a Colorado-based independent political commentator. He writes regularly for ColoradoPolitics and the Gazette newspapers. Reach him at EWS@EricSondermann.com; follow him at @EricSondermann