Klobuchar is a worthy candidate, getting no attention

[question everything]

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) has sterling credentials. She received an undergraduate degree from Yale University and a law degree from the University of Chicago (where one of her classmates was former FBI Director James Comey). She served for eight years as the District Attorney for Hennepin County which includes Minneapolis and its suburbs. She is 58 and in her third term in the U.S. Senate. Her legal background has served her well. She sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which recently heard testimony on the Mueller Report from Attorney General William Barr.

Last week’s Judiciary Committee hearing on the Mueller Report illustrated the challenge facing Klobuchar’s presidential campaign. She aggressively and effectively questioned the attorney general. But the media coverage of the hearing was dominated by one of her rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) who also serves on the committee. .. To this point, Klobuchar’s candidacy has had little impact on the campaign to win the Democratic presidential nomination. She barely registers in the national polls. But she has raised enough money and has enough standing in the polls to qualify for the first Democratic presidential debate next month.

(snip)

Klobuchar has a numbers problem. She is one of seven senators who are fighting to carry the Democratic presidential banner against Trump. She is one of four female Democratic senators in the race. She even shares her perch on the Senate Judiciary Committee with two other Democratic candidates, Harris and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker. The shaky start to Klobuchar’s presidential campaign is an example of the problems female candidates face. Before her official announcement, a story circulated that she had been abusive to staffers. There are 11 current members of Congress in the presidential race — six of whom are men. It wouldn’t be unusual if at least one of those six men had staff problems. But women are held to a stricter standard and Klobuchar took the media hit. People expect men to be tough, but women suffer when they come across anything but maternal.

Klobuchar describes herself as a pragmatic and moderate voice from the heartland of America. This may help her in neighboring Midwestern states like Iowa. Hillary Clinton won in Minnesota by the skin of her teeth so Klobuchar has positioned herself as a Democrat who can win purple states like Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, all of which went to Trump in 2016. But primary voters want some sizzle with their steak. She has focused on bipartisan issues like infrastructure development and opioid abuse. Klobuchar has distanced herself from many of the positions that excite Democratic primary voters. She does not support Medicare for All and calls the Green New Deal “aspirational.” Her approach to a free college education is typical. She said, “if I was a magic genie and could give that to everyone and we could afford it, I would.”

If one of the male candidates wins the Democratic presidential nomination, he will be under great pressure to select a female running mate to reflect the power of women in the Democratic Party. If she doesn’t win the nomination, Klobuchar would balance the ticket nicely. She represents a Midwestern swing state that is vital to a Democratic victory. Or perhaps, Democrats will make history with two women on the ticket in 2020.

More..

https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/442165-klobuchar-is-a-worthy-candidate-getting-no-attention

[rusty quoin]

1. I cannot argue with that.

[madaboutharry]

2. I think Amy Klobuchar is great.

I think she is highly intelligent and I like a lot of her ideas. I even contributed to her campaign. She is in my top three. But she has a problem and that is that she is not exciting. It’s unfair, even ridiculous, but a lot of winning traction in a presidential campaign is charisma. I think Sen. Klobuchar reminds people of their high school English teacher. Americans are shallow.

[Midwestern Democrat]

34. That's basically it - some people seem to think that picking the perfect presidential

candidate is as simple a matter of picking a moderate from the Upper Midwest - i.e. someone with the right kind of politics and from the right region - well, we could only wish it was that simple. I'll use an analogy - there are solid competent actors who nevertheless lack the charisma and screen presence to ever become a movie star; likewise, there are solid competent Senators who nevertheless lack the charisma and the compelling message to ever compete at the presidential level.

[Indygram]

3. I am always surprised by how much I like her when I listen to her

I think with such a large field it's just to easy to forget about her because she's just not as dynamic. I am not sure where her seat would go if she left the Senate, either. For me, at least, I want to see the Senators staying put.

[Chin music]

4. I think she's tough and comes prepared.

It's all good. It's 18 longgggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg months away.

[saljr1]

5. I agree with that statement

She is very smart, someone I could trust to do the right thing for the American people. Has credibility working across the aisle to get things done. She would also be a strong candidate in middle America where Dems are a little weak. I would have no problems voting for her. Her and Warren will do very good in the debates this summer.

[Haggis for Breakfast]

6. Talk about getting no attention

Cory Booker just proposed the most sweeping gun reform bill in history. It will eliminate loopholes for trade shows, make purchasing a fire arm a matter of national licensure/registry, ban bump stocks, deny people a gun sale who can't pass back ground check and regulate magazines.

Excuse me, DU -- WHERE IS THIS STORY ?????

You guys are about as fair and balanced as Fox.


[P/S -- Last week he spoke about his "Baby Bonds" Program. Where is THAT story ?? ]

[TwilightZone]

10. Try a search.

Took me about ten seconds to find this, posted yesterday:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1287108099

"You guys are about as fair and balanced as Fox"

This isn't a news site. Considering how Booker is doing in the polls, the coverage of him here is probably appropriate. In fact, it's probably more than commensurate. Last I checked, we're not required to cover all candidates equally.

[Haggis for Breakfast]

36. DON'T lecture me.

Everyday there is something here on Bernie Sanders - who last time I checked is polling here at less than 8%, in seventh place after "undecided." But EVERYDAY, he's "news" here.

And, yes, TZ, this IS very much a news site.

Feel free to go snark on someone else.

[dalton99a]

11. +1. Stanford, Rhodes Scholar, Yale Law, mayor of Newark, U.S. Senator

Helluva resume

[Haggis for Breakfast]

37. Yes, it IS quite the resume.

AND he's got a lot of great ideas, too.

[emmaverybo]

7. Good CV. Loved her w/Kavanaugh, she unflappable; he playing the punk

[oasis]

8. Biden, Amy K, and Gov. Inslee top my list. Amy and Inslee need

to be assertive in the debates and grab the spotlight.

[at140]

9. Klobuchar is very good, but needs to make

some attention grabbing statements like AOC for example.

[marylandblue]

33. Yes. The candidates doing best either already have a name or they have a media strategy.

[brer cat]

12. She would be a very good president.

I just don't see how she can break out of this crowded field.

[JI7]

13. many good candidates get little attention

[comradebillyboy]

25. Especially if they are women.

[marybourg]

14. She's my gal.

[pnwmom]

15. Neither she, Warren, or Harris are getting the attention they deserve. The media

is in love with the latest boy-genius.

First it was O'Rourke, now it's Buttigieg.

Can you imagine if a 37 year old mayor from a city of 100K people with two X chromosomes decided to run? She'd be laughed off the stage.

[rpannier]

17. I agree it is a problem

I read in Atlantic (maybe Slate) that the weekend the media were all touting O' Roarke in Iowa, he had more reporters than Iowans at the cafe. He didn't say much in terms of policy
Warren had a filled restaurant and laid out several policies and no one knew except the people in attendance and people who read papers in Iowa (and western IL)

[question everything]

21. She will appear in a Town Hall on... Fox, Wednesday

6:30 -7:30 Eastern.

Will be interesting.

[at140]

26. Now that you said it,

it does seem a bit crazy, doesn't it?

Senator Warren has 20xmore experience in DC than Buttigieg has, she has dealt with legislation affecting big banks and Wall Street while he has not, yet she gets less attention than him. Go figure..

[pnwmom]

31. Women are damned if they do and damned if they don't.

They can't rise to powerful positions unless they're extremely hardworking and supremely qualified.

And then they're accused of trying too hard.

The media would rather see some boy-genius parachute in to save us all.

[rpannier]

16. I think the only ticket she wouldn't balance is one with Mayor Pete at the top

He's from Indiana, so regionally that wouldn't be necessary.
The only other one that I don't think she'd help in a big way is Yang, though maybe Gabbard as well.
The DUer supporting Yang has put up some interesting things about him, but I'm not sure who would help him best. She wouldn't hurt that's for sure.
Gabbard would probably need a governor, or someone with executive experience

[pnwmom]

18. Gabbard is an Assange supporter who has been minimizing the Russia investigation.

I wouldn't mention her in the same breath with the other strong Democratic women.

Assange was charged with hacking -- not with publishing.

Link to tweet

[loyalsister]

19. She seems like a good candidate

I keep forgetting she's in it because she hasn't gotten nearly the attention as the others who have various strengths. The more popular candidates seem to project identities that distinguish them from each other.
Biden had a ready made profile.
Bernie the socialist.
Warren is liberal and wonky and gutsy and always has a plan.

Harris has earned a reputation for being a bad ass.

Obviously Mayor Pete's starts out with a unique identity and he has been doing a good job of defining himself as remarkably intelligent.

O'Rourke is the guy who didn't get stomped in Texas and brought his boisterous campaign to the primary.

Klobuchar doesn't seem to project an especially interesting or unique quality that would allow her to position herself as the _____ candidate. In short, her campaign has not been able to grab the imagination of the media by inspiring questions about whether she's too ____ or is the country ready for ____ or, what kind of action will we see next

She has a lot of strength in offering policy details and had a moment during the Kavanaugh hearings, but she has tough competition there.

The superficial nature of media driven elections are probably working against her. I would love to be surprised by the debates and see her move up. I hope we get to hear plenty from her.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

20. She's very capable but I don't see her as the nominee.

However, she could be a good running mate, or better yet, Attorney General. That would leave her Senate seat open, to be filled by our Democratic governor - maybe with Al Franken?

[TheFarseer]

22. boring positions and no charisma. Just doesn't stand out

The magic genie comment is so condescending. No one should ever say that. Offer a more pragmatic solution but don’t treat people like children. Not to pick on her because she’s not the first to say that.

[at140]

29. Economy and jobs are boring subjects compared

to free college & universal health care & LGBTQ issues.

[BlueWI]

23. Agree 100%

Biden and Sanders are at the top of most of the news cycle so far, and unfortunately, other excellent candidates are getting short shrift. I like Kloubuchar a lot, with my personal preference so far being Inslee and Warren, followed by Harris and Kloubuchar. I hope that the public discussion continued to highlight that strong are available to us and the merits of each candidate differ.

[tishaLA]

24. She's voted to confirm nearly 2/3 of tRump's judicial appointments

And that's too many.

[mcar]

27. I agree.

[BeyondGeography]

28. She obviously pissed off a lot of her staffers

and they got even. I don’t think she has recovered. Too many alternatives out there, qualified people who haven’t allegedly berated and mistreated their own employees eg.

[USALiberal]

38. She never said "I never threw objects at my staff", that was odd. Nt

[BeyondGeography]

39. IIRC, she was a "demanding boss"

And who doesn’t have a few unpleasant memories of those?

[Chin music]

30. This is another reason why unending political "seasons" are bad.

NOBODY is exciting for two plus years. We shouldn't really even be talking the next election until we straighten out a few other things. And folks wonder why there's money in politics. I can make up my mind in 6 months. I don't need 2 years to get anyone better than trump. When do the American People get a break.?
I'd rather watch baseball or whatever. I don't need never ending politics. Isn't that what sports is supposed to give us? god damn. EVERYTHING is all out balls to the wall. When do we get to rest?

[Persondem]

32. Yep, I agree. A lot of that going around K & R nt

[Kaleva]

35. She's a great candidate but lacks name recognition and exposure.

Hopefully, the upcoming debates will help her with that.

[NurseJackie]

40. All those things are true... she needs to work on her body language and presence.

She's frustrating to watch when she adopts the "only woman in the boardroom" stance and tone. I want to shout at her to "speak up, stand tall, stop looking at your feet, stop hiding your eyes behind your bangs, stop folding your arms".

I'm among MANY women who have (in the past) made this type of mistake... not wanting to offend... not wanting to make-waves. Behavior, posture, words, gestures... so many things that seem "normal" for men are incorrectly judged as "aggressive" when coming from women, so we often over-compensate by receding and withdrawing. Many women prefer to make "suggestions" and polite requests, rather than making confident demands.

For everything she's got going for her... I think this is one area that she really needs to work on.

[BeyondGeography]

41. "Stop hiding behind your bangs."

What a great line. Makes me appreciate Warren’s hairstyle.

[aikoaiko]

42. I expected her to do a lot better by now.

"Minnesota Nice" may not be an effective campaign model.

[Blue_Tires]

43. This is what happens when 50,000 candidates want the nomination...

[TreasonousBastard]

44. I like Klobuchar and her "No bullshit, let's just get the job done" attitude...

kinda like Truman was.

We have never elected a "perfect" president, and I doubt any perfect candidates have ever run. What we need is someone we feel competent to grow into the job. We have had many presidents who have, and served with distinction, even when we disagreed.

I firmly believe Klobuchar has the right stuff to grow into the job.

(As do some of the others, of course)

I wonder if this desk sign is still around to sit on the desk of the next President:



We have had enough of this crap:

&f=1