Forget 'Minnesota nice.' Amy Klobuchar's rage is exactly what she needs right now.

[question everything]

The mostly male pundit class panned Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s (D-Minn.) angry exchange with former South Bend, Ind., mayor Pete Buttigieg at the close of Wednesday’s Democratic debate in Nevada. I think female viewers saw it very differently. For the men, Klobuchar’s barely concealed rage was a big negative. They opined that she had lost her cool, that Buttigieg had gotten under her skin. Her response to his attack that she was unqualified to be president because she had momentarily forgotten the name of Mexico’s president — “Are you trying to say that I’m dumb?” — was viewed as weak. And her final gibe — “I wish everyone was as perfect as you, Pete” was called over-the-top.

Women in my Twitter feed, however, saw their clashes very differently. To them, Buttigieg is an archetype: the barely competent “boy wonder” who skates to promotions on his confidence and ties with the male boss while the woman does the hard work. “Every woman in corporate America has had a male coworker who went to an elite school, doesn’t produce much and keeps getting promoted anyway,” one woman wrote. “You’ve never been a far more experienced and qualified woman passed over by a less experienced mediocre man,” wrote another. “[Klobuchar’s anger] resonates with a lot of women.”

I’ll bet it does. I’ve worked with a lot of professional women in my career, and I don’t know one who hasn’t experienced this. The guy talks over her in meetings, and she gets blamed when she talks back. She does what the men seem to want, works hard and stays calm, and the guy grabs her idea and pushes it as his own. There’s a reason that women see workplace discrimination as a much bigger problem than men do.

Klobuchar’s clashes with Buttigieg, then, can be exactly what she needs to catapult her into the top tier. Her comebacks are spicy enough, and her emotion is raw enough to get shown on television or mentioned by reporters, ensuring wide exposure. And her intensity immediately resonates with women in the audience. Klobuchar’s widely praised New Hampshire debate closing statement rested on the repetition that she “knows” people who are struggling and will fight for them. Every woman who has ever had to compete with a Pete Buttigieg at work now knows that Klobuchar knows them because she is them.

(snip)

That means letting passionate Amy loose and running the risk that angry Amy sometimes appears. Forget all the tired old stories of how she was mean to her staff. Men have been mean to their staffs for centuries. Does anyone think Steve Jobs was less qualified to run Apple because he was domineering and dismissive in meetings? Quite the contrary. Klobuchar needs to take the risk that some men, comfortable in their sexism, will be turned off and let women and more modern men see she has what it takes.

(snip)

There’s an easy response to every man who says this will backfire: “Well-behaved women seldom make history.” The Democratic primary electorate contains many more women than men, and many of those women are Democrats precisely because they believe that party fights for and represents the aspirations of ambitious, self-assured women. They liked Hillary Clinton because they saw themselves in her. They’ll like Klobuchar for the same reason if she gives them the chance. Millions of women would love to see platitudinous Pete knocked off his privileged perch. C’mon, Amy, lean in. Make fetch happen.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/02/20/forget-minnesota-nice-amy-klobuchars-rage-is-exactly-what-she-needs-right-now/

[Hoyt]

1. +1. It was a "perfect" response, and inspiring.

[jezebel321]

2. I'm a woman and I thought Klobuchar looked ridiculous last night. She has been attacking (quite

snidely) Buttigieg at the last several debates. He has kept his cool the whole time. But last night when he finally gave it back to her she lost her cool and became enraged. It showed me her temperament is the furthest thing I would want in a President.

[Haggis for Breakfast]

6. I agree.

She looked foolish.

I, for one, am tired of her attacks on Buttigieg. I don't know what her problem is with him, but her comments about him are beginning to wear thin.

But her nasty outbursts are nothing new. There are sufficient reports from former staffers and other Capitol Hill aids who have described her temperment over the years and it isn't pretty. She is difficult to work for. She treats staffers like their recalcitrant children. She yells, screams and has even thrown things at people. That is NOT anything I want to see in the WH in the first female president. Get it under control, Amy, you're playing in the big leagues now. Time to act like it.

[radical noodle]

18. Yes, it showed how rattled she can get

when criticized or questioned. It will be important for the nominee to stand up calmly to trump's attacks and I don't believe she can.

[OAITW r.2.0]

3. I really like Amy and she is smart enough and politically saavy enough to be a great POTUS.

But....I am afraid she's not gaining enough traction to think her campaign will blossom going forward. She should talk to Joe.....where can Amy make an impact in Biden's administration?

[Music Man]

4. While I wish Buttigieg had let some of the Klobuchar stuff go,

Her responses were childish and impulsive.

"Sorry we can't be as perfect as you, Pete" or "You just memorize talking points."

It's a fucking debate, Amy. People get to comment on your record.

I love me some Amy Klobuchar, but I honestly have no idea how anyone can watch her performance last night and see it as some moment of fiery inspiration. More accurately, I think one can see her responses to Pete last night and say, "Yep, I can totally see her abusing staffers."

[Takket]

10. i agree with this take. he got under her skin. wasn't a good look for her.......

i don't think, as the article suggests, that her exchange with Pete is going to increase her popularity and poll numbers.

[Music Man]

12. And another thing:

Klobuchar not knowing the president of Mexico may not be a big deal. However, can we please stop saying that she "forgot" who the president of Mexico is? It's clear she just didn't know. She apologized and said she made a mistake and rightfully said it would be nice to have a president with some humility. That should have been fine. However, her defenders have decided to run with a narrative of "We all forget things." That's not what happened in this instance. People can stand up for Klobuchar, but I wish they would do it honestly.

[apcalc]

17. You do know that NONE of them knew except Buttigieg, don't uou.

[Music Man]

19. Uh, yeah...

The disagreement was between Buttigieg and Klobuchar, so that's why I'm writing about Klobuchar not knowing. Not sure what your point is.

[madaboutharry]

13. That's how I saw it as well.

For the longest time I kept going back and forth between Klobuchar and Buttigieg. I am glad that I decided to support Mayor Pete. I thought Amy’s behavior last night was cringe worthy.

[apcalc]

16. Pete is off my list for good because of the way he acted.

A poor showing for him.

[unitedwethrive]

22. You are likely in the minority...I saw the Klobuchar bubble pop in real time last night.

We had a watch party at our house for about 30 friends and neighbors, at least a third came in considering switching support to Amy after her strong showing in NH (or at least wanting a better look). All of them, to a person, decided that the way she handled the confrontation with Buttigieg was disqualifying. We did an 'exit poll' after the debate, with each person listing their top three candidates for our primary next month, and Amy received no votes whatsoever.

[Celerity]

23. I disagree and think Pete was the clear winner in those exchanges, he showed a superior temperament

and is ready to walk in the door of the White House and excel under pressure should he win the nomination. Amy, IMHO, not so much.


This article from NPR (I can find a multitude of others as well) highlights a germane aspect of the temperament issue.

As a female myself (thus being all too aware that there ARE indeed real and valid issues of bias and harassment when it comes to us women in the work environment) I am going to go ahead and inoculate my reply in general and the article itself from plazzy and invalid charges of sexism and gender bias by posting this snippet:


How Amy Klobuchar Treats Her Staff

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/22/us/politics/amy-klobuchar-staff.html

snip

While there was wide consensus in the interviews that women were often held to a different standard as bosses, former aides — female and male — said their concerns about Ms. Klobuchar’s behavior should not be dismissed as gender bias. Many of the aides said they had worked for both men and women, for lawmakers both compassionate and unkind, without encountering anyone else like Ms. Klobuchar.

[unitedwethrive]

20. I feel exactly the same way!

[Celerity]

21. [phone]

[UniteFightBack]

5. When do you think she'll drop out? nt

[Haggis for Breakfast]

8. Not soon enough.

She's too arrogant to accept that she doesn't stand a chance.

[question everything]

9. After Biden

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1300249

[MoonlitKnight]

7. Klobuchar lacks a vision

In my opinion that is her issue...the fact that she doesn’t really have an issue. It’s the “you can’t get that done “ message followed by a compromise that might get 10% done.

Then she uses her ammo on a battle with Buttigieg who also is lacking vision and is in the “I’m electable” lane. It doesn’t make sense.

“I’m electable and we need to beat Trump” is a legitimate platform. But it’s pretty crowded with Buttigieg and Biden. And Bloomberg is trying to get his limo to cut off everyone in the lane as well.

Rage is fine if it comes with passion. I don’t see any passion from Klobuchar. It comes across to me as more of a quest for power. But that is just my opinion.

[question everything]

11. She is realistic. She does not want to sell the voters pie in the sky

revolutions that will never come to pass.

She knows that most voters just want to come back to normalcy. They don't want another self absorbed know it all in the White House.

[USALiberal]

14. I believe the throwing stuff story. Nt

[apcalc]

15. I thought she was just fine. He was petty and smarmy.

Both my spouse and I thought she did very well.

[BusyBeingBest]

24. I really like Amy. But you can't let people get under your skin

and if they do, you can't show it.