Klobuchar Saved Her Campaign By twisting the words of her opponent

[MBS]

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/02/klobuchar-saved-campaign-new-hampshire-buttigieg-attack.html

This is not ordinary elbow-jabbing, but deliberate deception. Unacceptable behavior.

Amy Klobuchar had a great night in New Hampshire. In the three days before the primary, the Minnesota senator surged from the middle of the Democratic presidential pack to third place, behind Sen. Bernie Sanders and former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg. According to exit polls, Klobuchar captured many of the moderates, independents, and late deciders Buttigieg had hoped to win. By depriving him of victory and finishing close behind him, Klobuchar has positioned herself to compete with Buttigieg in the states that follow. How did she do it? By outshining her competitors in a debate on Friday night. In a dramatic exchange, Klobuchar rebuked Buttigieg for belittling the Senate impeachment trial. In the debate and in subsequent TV interviews, she used his impeachment comments to portray him as unserious. It was a clever attack. It was also deceptive.

Here’s what happened. On Jan. 25, a woman at a town hall in Carroll, Iowa, asked Buttigieg about the Senate trial. “If you’re like me, watching this impeachment process is exhausting,” he replied. “It’s demoralizing.” Buttigieg said the trial “makes me want to change the channel and watch cartoons.” The audience laughed, but he explained that this desire to turn away was the problem. “The cynics win,” said Buttigieg, “if they get us to switch it off.” Instead, he urged voters to hold President Donald Trump and Republican senators to account. Politico reporter Elena Schneider attended the event and tweeted Buttigieg’s response: “That’s how we win: To refuse to walk away. How they win, how the cynics win: if they get us to switch it off.”
. . .
Anyone who attended these events or watched videos of them knew that Buttigieg was saying Americans shouldn’t turn away from the trial. But Klobuchar, by taking his reference to cartoons out of context, inverted the meaning of his words. In an NBC interview, she described his message as “Let’s turn off the TV or go flip the channel and watch cartoons.” She contrasted this glib remark, as she presented it, with her own solemn responsibilities. “I have a job to do. I am in the arena,” she said. After the interview, Klobuchar’s communications director tweeted out her jab about cartoons.. .

On Jan. 29, at a town hall in Ames, Iowa, Buttigieg made his meaning unmistakable. He cautioned against the “temptation” to “switch [the trial] off and walk away.” Again, his remarks were posted on the Internet and tweeted by the press. But Klobuchar repeated her caricature.. . But Klobuchar didn’t let up. On Jan. 31, she repeated that voters “want someone with the experience of standing up and not just saying, ‘Oh, turn the channel and watch some cartoons.’ ” On Feb. 2, she boasted that unlike Buttigieg, who had suggested “watching cartoons,” she was “in the arena” and “getting things done.”

[msongs]

1. oh look now she has scored some votes its her turn to be slagged lol nt

[squirecam]

3. There have been several the past few days

Sadly even her 100% planned parenthood record is being attacked.

It means they are afraid of her.

[SCantiGOP]

32. Along with the Sanders supporters

I think the Buttigieg supporters are going to be the hardest to bring back into the fold for the General Election, if neither wins the nomination. They are the most likely on DU to be trashing their opponents.

[StevieM]

2. I never liked her much to begin with.

This made me like her a whole lot less.

[unitedwethrive]

52. I'm trying to remain undecided, but I did notice that Amy seemed to really enjoy attacking

Pete in the debate. It wasn't just a matter-of-fact, or "I'm concerned about this" attitude, as would be appropriate when bringing up a mistake or unpopular view of an opponent. She genuinely looked like she was giddy. It just rubbed me the wrong way.

Also, it was so obviously scripted. While I know they all have planned attacks during the debates, she always seems to be reciting a memorized monologue rather than speaking off the cuff. I think the ability to think and talk "on your feet" is a sign of leadership and intelligence. I am not saying Amy is not intelligent, just not on as high a level as someone who is able to do these things. She read her entire post-NH speech from notes on Tuesday night. It seems like that type of a joyous 'we did better than expected' speech could be at least partially organic.

[BusyBeingBest]

4. If you offer yourself up at a relatively inexperienced 37 and bring up cartoons,

someone's going to take that and run with it. Amy can fight.

[squirecam]

6. Yes. Hard work is exhausting

Amy does it anyway.

[mobeau69]

11. Honesty is the best policy. It's not so exhausting.

[mobeau69]

9. Run with it or twist and distort it?

It was a flat out lie.

[BusyBeingBest]

12. I read her attack as mostly dismissing Pete's whining that the proceedings

on TV were exhausting, when she and the other Senators were doing the actual work. It's an "I was there because I am a US Senator making history and you were watching on TV" moment more than anything else.

[squirecam]

14. Yep

Nt

[mobeau69]

15. Only problem with that is it's not accurate.

But if it makes you feel good I guess you'll go with it.

[BusyBeingBest]

16. It wasn't inaccurate. He did say that. It's just that she didn't put it into

a favorable context for him, because she's not stupid and she doesn't owe him or any candidate the most favorable context. It's a jab, not a pat on the head.

[MBS]

19. She didn't put it into ACCURATE context. n/t

[BusyBeingBest]

21. Pete's going to have to get a lot sharper, not everyone is going to

coddle him and make things fair for him like a spoiled grandson.

[mobeau69]

22. Nope. Amy said to Pete

"you wanted to turn the channel and watch cartoons.”

Not true.

Anyone with 5th grade reading comphension can see this bullshit for what it was.

[BusyBeingBest]

24. Maybe that's what she heard? In any event, she sliced him pretty effectively

on the larger point, which was that she has earned a position of greater national importance and worked personally for the impeachment of Donald Trump--something that comes from going to Washington as a Senator and slogging away serving an entire state. And he hasn't.

[mobeau69]

27. He's slogged in Afghanistan. Has she slogged with her life on the line?

[BusyBeingBest]

29. I think it's nice that he served. She had a different life and career path.

[mobeau69]

36. With his education he could have chosen a more comfortable one than Amy could've ever dreamed of

but he rejected the easy paths and chose a harder one.

[BusyBeingBest]

38. Well, let him get back to me when he's had a couple years in the Senate or governors' mansion.

[krissey]

58. I am all for Buttigieg, too. All in. Buttigieg has gone after candidates. Warren has gone after

others. Biden certainly has. I am all in for each and every one of them.

[MBS]

17. exactly, mobeau69.

Rivalries and difference in policies and opinions are one thing, and to be expected.
Lack of integrity is another.

After 4 years of lies, I have zero tolerance for lies and dishonesty of any kind, even (maybe even especially) coming from the D side of the aisle.

If our country is to be saved, integrity of character is a minimal job requirement for the next president of the United States.

[mobeau69]

33. Yep, the past few years of constant lies have been enough for me.

My tolerance for lying and distortion is also at zero.

[frazzled]

31. You need to fight clean

It’s not acceptable to lie and distort. That’s what we’re trying to get rid of with this election.

I otherwise like Amy, but she does have a dark side. I guess I could forgive her this transgression. But it makes me reticent about making her a first choice.

[BusyBeingBest]

35. I don't think she lied. She just referred to his quote.

If it wasn't in the context he meant, he should have corrected that. Is Pete going to run to the referees when tRumplings pull a quote out of context? The media has been refereeing for him so far, but that might end. This is WHY I went with Amy. She has multiple Senate campaigns under her belt, she knows how to do it.

[frazzled]

44. Sorry, she knew she was distorting what was said

for her own benefit. It was clearly planned. I can’t remember if he was given an opportunity to respond or not (or whether when you are in the lead you just don’t want to get in a fight), but the onus is on the person who lied. Let’s not blame the victim.

[BusyBeingBest]

47. She knew he said something about watching cartoons rather than the trial.

Maybe that's what she gathered from his quote. Who knows? But it was in service to a larger and inarguable point that was much more damaging to him. Pete won't be talking cartoons anymore, lesson learned. Joe and Bernie and Mike B. probably shouldn't mention putting records on the ol' record player or making John Wayne movie insults, either. All a part of political skill.

[frazzled]

49. Well, he can just talk about

the well documented charges about her cruelty to staff and fits of rage (reflected in highest turnover of staff in senate). You know, it would show he’s a “fighter,” and that would be good, right? At least it would be apparently true.

[BusyBeingBest]

54. Sure, he should totally bring it up.

[emmaverybo]

55. Like Amy. I believe there is a point to be made about his inexperience, especially when he takes

shots at those much more experienced and accomplished and when he uses ageism. Big big HOWEVER.

Amy twisted the truth to show Pete as callous, disengaged, so immature and flip as to be bizarre.

The truth was the opposite. Rather than being disengaged from the impeachment hearings, he was
so engaged as to find them emotionally harrowing.

She could easily have rebuked him (as did Whoopi) for attacking “status quo Dems and scored some points without taking vital context out of his own story and twisting his words to show the very reverse of what he is recorded as saying.

[BusyBeingBest]

57. Don't word things such that your rivals can use it against you.

Lesson learned. She wasn't going to use her RARE precious national TV minute--in maybe what was her last debate as a candidate--to go out of her way to cast him in the fairest light. Pete's had plenty of flattering media attention to portray himself in a positive way, he hasn't run up against real opposition yet either. He'd better learn how to respond effectively--without his manager and media team--when someone says something he feels is unfair. Like it or not, Amy knows what she has to do, and she did it.

[madaboutharry]

5. She has sharp elbows.

That isn’t necessarily a bad thing when it comes to dealing with republicans, but when it is used against another democrat in a Machiavellian way it is a turn off.

[mobeau69]

7. Posted this the night of the debates. She may have cost Pete an outright win in NH.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1287488192

I lost a lot of respect for her that night.

[customerserviceguy]

8. I was a bit surprised

that Pete did not defend himself adequately against that charge at the debate. He probably would have beaten Sen. Sanders if he had done so.

I'm presuming that he did not see her surge between Friday's debate and Tuesday's election.

[cynatnite]

10. This is such a minor kerfuffle, it shouldn't even be on anyone's radar...

Amy had an impressive debate. There were a lot of folks who chose to support her at the last minute. That's what I owe to her 3rd place finish.

This why it's called the silly season. People get ridiculous sometimes and this counts as one of them in my book.

My dream ticket is Buttigieg/Klobuchar. That's also why I'm not taking this seriously at all.

[KPN]

34. I don't know about that. It's stuff like this that has always turned me off about career

politicians. They aren't genuine, but the best of them can sure give that impression. For those who hold honesty in high regard, stuff like this may actually make all the difference in the world.

But go ahead and call me ridiculous.

[SWBTATTReg]

13. Thanks for putting this out there. Pete is too serious of a person and candidate to so ...

(as they claim incorrectly) to casually dismiss this whole thing and walk away. I didn't know that Klobuchar misspoke about the 'watching cartoons' comment, that kind of rankles me a little.

[mobeau69]

23. It wasn't misspoken. The Times called it a distortion also widely known as a lie.

[SWBTATTReg]

26. I know. I was being nice for the grace of it. nt

[Dem2]

18. Nothing I like less

Than proponents of one candidate shivving other candidates in the back.

It's weak.

Yeah yeah, I know, I hide the threads, just need to comment once in a while because I can't seem to hide them fast enough.

[redqueen]

20. I don't disagree that she did twist his words, and that was shitty,

but that isn't the only reason behind her surge.

Her speech toward the end was so much better than any speech she'd previously given - I was wondering where it came from and why we hadn't heard anything like that from her before.

[mobeau69]

25. I can't disagree with this.

[ibegurpard]

28. Meh

This doesn't affect my opinion about either one of them.

[KPN]

30. Thanks for the post. Klobuchar has piqued my interest and did so in the debate frankly. Good to

know the background. I'll keep that in mind.

[democrattotheend]

37. I have to agree

I like Amy, but I read what Buttigieg actually said about watching cartoons and I agree, it was pretty deceptive the way she twisted it.

[krissey]

39. It is really hard to find something to attack Klobuchar with, I have noticed.

[frazzled]

50. Ouch

This?
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/mollyhensleyclancy/amy-klobuchar-staff-2020-election

Frankly, every candidate has something that can be used to bludgeon them.

[krissey]

51. That one is one of the more silly ones. We have watched her for 6 months. Nothing that proves

that out. An employee sole job was to get her lunch. Starving, working all morning wanting the damn food and no fork. I would be pissed too. But I would use my fingers instead of a comb.

[frazzled]

53. It's not about the comb

But you can make it about that.

[krissey]

56. It is about a couple X employees after all her years in employment think she is too mean.

I get it. Also being a boss for lots of years, as a woman, I know we are not allowed to even be assertive or forceful without being labeled "mean" or worse. Yes. I get it. I have also watched her for the last 6 months. With my own eyes. And I am good with putting that criticism in the category of silliness.

[frazzled]

61. But if it's okay to distort the words of another candidate

as many in this thread contend, why isn't it okay to bring up, amplify, or even distort the administrative/leadership qualities of another?

My point is that this has to stop. Disagreements about policy or approaches are okay. Misrepresentations, gossip, or personal appraisals of a candidate's experience or management style are perhaps not. And it's a definite no-no to misquote someone entirely. It's wrong, and I think the best thing to do is admit that and move on.

PS: It wasn't a "couple" of employees: the New York Times interviewed two dozen, many of whom, they claimed, had complaints.

[krissey]

62. You might want to check out post 58

[jmg257]

40. "I am someone that has won every race I've ever run in, back to fourth grade,"

She ain't in it to lose.

“I have won, and I have won big,” she said, ticking off the counties and congressional districts in her state that Donald Trump won—and that she’s won, too.

“Over and over again,” she said.

“Every single time,” she said.

“I always win,” she concluded.

And Klobuchar has a better, longer record than anybody running of winning precisely the kinds of voters in the same sort of state where Democrats almost certainly are going to have to win to win come November.

“I have won big time,” she reiterated to this crowd, “every time.”

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/01/14/amy-klobuchar-2020-campaign-profile-democrats-iowa-098476

[BusyBeingBest]

43. Minnesota Nice until she isn't.

[mbusby]

41. I don't care....

...if every last one of them worship a brass monkey, as long as they get rid of tRump.

[jmg257]

48. I was unaware...

[bamagal62]

59. Why is everyone expecting perfection

From all of our candidates. It’s insane. No one is perfect. Everyone has baggage. We have to beat Donald Trump, which means whomever rises to the top is who we must support and vote for. And, we must ALL get out there and vote. Not voting, means you are voting for Trump. Vote blue no matter who!

[stopbush]

60. Yep. I knew Amy was misrepresenting what Pete had said when she said it.

That kind of obvious lie really turned me off to her.

[judeling]

63. Pete learned his lesson about getting into it with Amy.

Amy wasn't the first to use that line and had used it before the debate. Pete had to know it was coming.
So after past experience he let it slide. Because he knew she had a major counter punch. I'm not sure what it was. Maybe something about all the campaign events that he ran during the actual trial, maybe something else.

But apparently he learned the lesson that Joe, Bernie, and Liz already knew, be very careful getting into it with Amy except on policy you know very well and then expect a draw at best.

[Laelth]

64. Weak. I expected better from her. n/t

-Laelth