The Case for Amy Klobuchar?
- The WSJ article cited has some truths and some flaws in it. When she was elected, she was an exact policy clone of Hillary Clinton with local name recognition, without all the baggage, running nearly unopposed in a solidly, old style blue state. She has continuing, unexplained popularity that has continued to clear the field for her.
- She is a woman, box checked, and they got her age and years of Senate experience right. She wasn't a prosecutor, she ran a department that prosecuted. She accomplished WHAT in the Senate by the way? She entered the Senate in 2006, stopped the Bush expansion and tanked the economy. She supported every policy that brought on the crash and she supported every wrong-headed policy of Obama, who was the furthest left of all her fellow Senators. She stood up to him on nothing to set herself apart, not the healthcare takeover, not cars for cash, not Solyndra boondoggle, QE, trillion dollar deficits, not the Iran disaster. When did she cross over or stand up to him? Never. Just a perfect partisan. A follower, not a leader. Chuck Schumer and Dick Durbin without all the charisma.
"Yet she doesn’t carry the baggage of Elizabeth Warren (who impersonated a Native American), Kamala Harris (whose zeal as a prosecutor is passé), or Kirsten Gillibrand (whose politics have “evolved” faster than the flu virus)."
- True, she doesn't have Hillary's or Warren's baggage and she doesn't talk like AOC. She does however carry all the baggage of the Democratic Party of the last 12 years into the general election if nominated. 12 years without making America competitive. Will she run on bringing back collapse or stagnation? Empowering Iran or empowering North Korea? Selling out to China or to Russia? Her opponent doubled the growth rate and made us safer. How does she answer that?
"Unlike most 2020 contenders, Ms. Klobuchar hasn’t parroted lefty slogans. Asked last year about abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement, she said it would be better to focus on changing its policies, adding: “We are always going to need immigration enforcement.”
- That counts as pragmatism in the Dem party today, admitting that nations have borders? If so, it could sink her in the primaries. Those blue collar workers that care about borders are now called Trump voters.
Ms. Klobuchar once called her approach “pretty pragmatic.” In 2007 she passed a bill tightening safety standards for pool drains, after a few young children were hurt or killed by the suction. In 2011 she stood up for the nutritional value of tomato paste, when the Agriculture Department was debating if school-lunch pizza should continue to count as a vegetable serving.
- Yes, she can be the pool drain President. I stand corrected on no accomplishments. One girl was horribly drowned in the Minneapolis Golf Club pool and she closed all old pools in the nation, forced upgrades and saved likely zero lives while supporting the abortion of millions. No mention of where she stands on nine month plus one day terminations?
"More recently, she has focused on lowering prescription drug prices and boosting privacy online. [I like that.] Critics of her record in the Senate say she plays small ball. Ms. Klobuchar responds that she simply knows how to get things done. Minnesotans clearly take her side. During her re-election last year, she won 60% of the vote, including every congressional district."
- She wins with name recognition here and has always had more than ten to one money advantage. That doesn't carry as far as Iowa or Wisconsin, she won't win either Dakota, and it won't help her in New Hampshire, Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania. Her famous dad of the Minneapolis Tribune was unknown and un-noteworthy outside the state.
"She is also getting criticism, albeit anonymously, as a
tough boss who mistreated her staff. She has had some of the highest staff turnover on Capitol Hill, but the stories would have more credibility if the critics lent their names. Perhaps the Senator is simply less tolerant of millennial demands. The stories are notable mainly because they contrast with Ms. Klobuchar’s Minnesota Nice public persona."
- Excuse me but there is a big difference between being a tough boss and mistreating your staff. Her true character is revealed behind the scenes. The stories are notable because she is a bitch when the cameras are off, unnecessarily. I knew that from a family member, a Democrat, who worked for her in her previous job. Not exactly his words but to that effect. Interesting to know that she is not authentic; her public and private persona are different. That is not likely to change at 58 and could be be revealed in the course of a long campaign if she is competitive. Amy Klobuchar has never been in a close competitive race, never faced a serious attack and never beat a real challenge from the left or the right. She should fit right in, in a field of beginners.
"Another question is how far Ms. Klobuchar will go to raise her profile. Last week she quietly co-sponsored the Senate resolution on a Green New Deal. Running on a pledge to eliminate fossil fuels in 10 years? Mr. Trump can only hope. If Ms. Klobuchar, already a solid liberal, feels the need to zag further left, she could lose the strongest argument for her candidacy.
- This is right. If she runs to the Left in the primaries, she removes the only reason to vote for her, that she is a reasonable centrist, an old style Democrat, a unicorn in 2019. There aren't any JFK Democrats or Humphrey Democrats left - so she copies the others to set herself apart?
Unmentioned is how well popular two term Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty did in Iowa, California, New York, Michigan. She won in local, one newspaper town that has been playing her last name in large print without controversy everyday for 60 years.
If the Dem contest is a race to the Left, Amy does not either win it or set herself up as a contrast by endorsing the socialist green mantra. Her only hope is to be the last one standing after a long series of others implode over the course of the campaign.
Excite the Left or win the middle. Choose one.
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Amy's first statewide race:
Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party primary results[1]
Party Candidate Votes 2006 %
DFL Amy Klobuchar 294,671 92.51
DFL Darryl Stanton 23,872 7.49
Population of MN is roughly 6 million, roughly 95% of whom did not come out to vote for her that beautiful September day.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_United_States_Senate_election_in_MinnesotaMoney raised in Klobuchar's most recent reelction, 2018:
Amy Klobuchar (D) $10,681,536
Jim Newberger (R) $257,989
A 42:1 advantage. Good luck getting that matchup with Trump.
