For Sen. Amy Klobuchar, the road to the presidency runs through the Midwest

[TexasTowelie]

For a Minnesotan speaking before Wisconsinites, Amy Klobuchar might have felt a little pressure.

“I’ll be competing with another session on the future of cheese,” said the first woman to be elected U.S. senator in Minnesota.

On Saturday, Klobuchar kicked off the Cap Times Idea Fest at UW-Madison’s Gordon Center — just a few blocks from Union South where there was indeed a discussion on the future of cheese and down the hall from a panel on formidable Wisconsin women — with her renowned homespun humor and her irrepressible optimism on display.

Elected in a 2006 landslide, Klobuchar has since gained a reputation for getting things done, and in a nice way. She’s one of those skilled politicians who can be ardently partisan while still being able to reach across the aisle.

Read more: http://host.madison.com/ct/news/local/govt-and-politics/cap-times-idea-fest-for-sen-amy-klobuchar-the-road/article_cbb7331c-2804-5509-a69a-62d7d52586f3.html

[Skidmore]

1. Oooh, I've been hoping she would get noticed.

She's a really effective legislator and fearless. Takes no prisoners.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

2. She'd face opposition from purists.

[Hortensis]

6. So what, Whiskey? Bury them with indifference, for god's sakes, and move on.

We have BIG battles to take on and no time for silly little ones.

Here's reality: The Democratic Party is strongly dominated by center left liberal voters and others averaging center left. The image of a noisy fringe as a power is a media creation. I personally always want to push policy left, but we are a big, inclusive party that strives to meet the needs of America, and that means radicals who can't cooperate are always doomed to big disappointments.

As for Klobuchar, our next president, as always, will be chosen by the vast, very diverse, mainstream base of the Democratic Party, which is good for her. We at least know neither she nor Harris will be running just to make a statement if they do.

The one I'm wondering about running, of course, is Biden. After all his years of doofusing, he comes across as a kindly elder statesman and offers the kind of warm fuzzies a badly bruised and battered electorate might find very welcome. He might actually have learned to stand stronger over the years also. Obama likes him a lot; don't really know why, but I figure Obama knows something I don't and that means something to me.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

7. Oh, I think it's good to know what a candidate might face on the national stage.

Don't get me wrong, she's likeable, competent and a deal-maker. For some, that's untenable -- especially when combined with being a woman.

[Hortensis]

8. I guess. It's kind of a tree falls in the woods situation, though.

The fewer who notice, the less it's heard, and that's the way we should be reacting to the usual unreasonable yammering from the fringes whose natures do not allow them to compromise with others. There really are far more important groups and issues we need to invest our attention in.

I'm not talking about strong liberals -- I'm one of those.

I'm talking about those whose rigidly intractable, intolerant traits mean they cannot ever accept that the goals of our party's many mainstream blocks must also be considered. If an ill-informed, uber-righteous person cornered you at a party to insist you had to agree entirely with him and reveal nothing but contempt for your views, I imagine you'd bring a pointless conversation to a close and walk away. There's a clue there.

[mcar]

3. So many good possiblities

We have a deep bench for 2020.

[murielm99]

10. Yes.

So much for the people who say we have no bench. Meh. They are wrong.

[NastyRiffraff]

4. I like her

She's been on Rachel quite a bit. She's smart and articulate.

We do indeed have a deep bench within the Democratic Party!

[UtahLib]

5. Another competent DEMOCRAT!

[nkpolitics1212]

9. Klobuchar would be a perfect 2020 Democratic VP runningmate.

The 2020 Democratic Presidential nominee should be a current or former Governor.
O'Malley-MD
Patrick-MA