Kamala Harris wasn’t looking for “a 49-year-old gay bald Jew from Boulder, Colorado” as her running mate.

This is how Colorado Governor Jared Polis self-deprecatingly described himself – a comment that went viral – when asked about his prospects in the vice presidential race.

He was the classic Polis, the first homosexual elected governor of a state, and the latest example of how the governor of Colorado scrupulously sought to build a unique national political brand.

Since he was elected governor in 2018, Polis has given approximately 1,500 interviews to the local and national press, using candid language and humor to guide Coloradans on precautions to take amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the motivation of the Democrats on Fox News. She has also maintained an active social media profile, often posting on TikTok and YouTube, including dancing to Feliz Navidad.

But Polis also wants people to know that he takes politics seriously. He took on the role of president of the National Governors Association last month, a position that will also raise his profile outside of Colorado as Polis guides the bipartisan group’s policy goals. He wants his main cause to be helping states build education systems that better solve workforce shortages.

“Governors across the board want to ensure that we can meet the workforce needs of today and tomorrow successfully and that individual students have the opportunity to support themselves and earn a living,” Polis said. it was said in an interview with POLITICO. Before entering national politics, Polis capitalized on the Internet boom of the 1990s, starting several companies that were later sold for hundreds of millions of dollars. Polis joined Congress in 2008 as one of its richest members, serving five terms.

Polis sat down with POLITICO to discuss affordable housing, banning assault weapons, why governors make the best presidential candidates — and what advice Kamala Harris has for rural America.

This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.

As a Democrat running a state with a large rural population, what advice do you have for Democratic candidate Kamala Harris to appeal to rural Americans? Our country is very diverse. I won in the congressional district that Lauren Boebert picked two years ago. It is a rural town. And that means that yes, there were Trump-Polis voters in this county.