Amy Klobuchar -- the Democrats' only hope

[question everything]

The pre-Nevada Democratic debate was a gift to Donald Trump. Instead of training their fire on the incumbent, or on the vulnerable front-runner, Bernie Sanders, the candidates tore Mike Bloomberg to shreds while saving plenty of darts for one another. That nice young man Pete Buttigieg became that supercilious egoist needling Amy Klobuchar over trifles. Elizabeth Warren the policy wonk became Elizabeth Warren the Terminator. Bottom line: A clear win for Sanders, which can be seen as an indirect win for Trump.

(snip)

Bloomberg apology/explanation for stop-and-frisk was stiff and unconvincing, as Elizabeth Warren and others were quick to point out. He could have framed it in terms that a Democratic audience would view sympathetically — that the point of stop-and-frisk was to get illegal guns off the streets. He could have elaborated on his long-standing anti-gun activism (which has the advantage of being true). And then he could have said that while the program was successful in reducing crime, specifically murders and other gun crimes almost entirely in minority neighborhoods, it went too far and needed to be scaled back.

(snip)

If Mike Bloomberg’s pure aim were to deny Donald Trump reelection, he would withdraw from the race and put his vast resources in the service of Amy Klobuchar. Among all of the Democratic candidates, she is the most likely to defeat Trump. Every other candidate, including Bloomberg, is dragging a ton of baggage.

Elizabeth Warren is vulnerable for her history of misrepresenting herself as a minority and for her embrace of hard-left policies. She claims to pay for her wish list of goodies by imposing a wealth tax that 1) might be unconstitutional; 2) would not remotely cover all her spending ideas; and 3) might dampen economic growth. Pete Buttigieg has run the fourth-largest city in the 17th-most populous state in the U.S. His record was spotty. Crime increased by 70%. He is a great talker. So bright. But he is also the first openly gay man to seek a major party nomination. According to a 2020 Gallup poll, 78% would vote for a gay or lesbian candidate, which is better than the 29% who said so in 1983, but nowhere near the 96% who say they’d vote for a black candidate.

(snip)

Bernie Sanders is a festival of weakness. His proposal to ban fracking alone could lose Pennsylvania, and thus, the November election. Like a reverse magnet, he repels every suburbanite who crossed over to vote blue in 2018. Even most Democrats oppose “Medicare for All” and the rest of his dorm-incubated agenda. His past admiration of leftist dictatorships (“bread lines are good!”) will haunt him. And that Gallup poll found that only 45% would vote for a socialist.

Amy Klobuchar is rumored to be tough on her staff. That’s it. She’s a solid, midwestern senator who wins in her home state by double-digit margins. She’s sane and centrist. And she’s the Democratic Party’s only hope.


https://chicago.suntimes.com/columnists/2020/2/20/21146231/amy-klobuchar-democratic-presidential-primary-mike-bloomberg-mona-charen

[left-of-center2012]

1. The author of the article is a right winger

Mona Charen:
A political conservative ...

She has written:
“Useful Idiots: How Liberals Got it Wrong in the Cold War and Still Blame America First”,
and
“Do-Gooders: How Liberals Hurt Those They Claim to Help (and the Rest of Us)”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mona_Charen

[corbettkroehler]

13. Further Proof

Link to tweet

[Sparkly]

2. A strong endorsement.

I started with Amy as my choice #1, but have had her tied with Warren in my mind for quite some time. (I am not concerned about her policies except to the extent she is often connected with Sanders.)

Electability is important this cycle, and I know that Amy has never lost to a Republican. She's powerful in swing states, and she's sensible in persuading those who need a reason to let go of Trumpism.

I know there is concern that she is shaky -- sometimes literally -- in debates. That doesn't concern me. It wouldn't concern me if there were no debates, or if she appeared nervous throughout and was proclaimed a debate loser. Hillary Clinton triumphed in the debates, as did John Kerry, as did Al Gore. It doesn't seem to matter. What matters is appeal.

She and Elizabeth Warren both have tremendous appeal, particularly to WOMEN (who I think Democrats keep forgetting about).

I hope Amy does well tonight in the debate!!

[tritsofme]

3. She's always looked good on paper, but there is no path to the nomination.

She should drop out before Super Tuesday.

[AlexSFCA]

4. I like her too but she struggles to inspire masses

and is still not well known nationally. Biden is our only hope. But he’d need a very exciting running mate, the likes of Stacey Abrams to mobilize historic turnout.

[bamagal62]

5. I really like her.

I wish she would gain more traction. My 22 year old son has picked her as his candidate. So, she must have some appeal to males as well as younger voters. My daughter, who is 19, has Pete as her number one and Klobuchar as her number two.

[MoonlitKnight]

6. Well, she did finish ahead of uncommitted and Tulsi in Nevada

And almost caught up to Steyer.

[itsrobert]

7. She's good, but MayorPete

mop the floor with her in the the last debate.

She was stammering around. Not a good look.

[Sparkly]

8. He kept interrupting her.

Not a good look on him, I thought.

[itsrobert]

9. Sorry. The audience expects that in a debate.

He was interrupting because she was not quick on her feet with answers. If our candidate goes up against Trump, we need someone that is going to hammer him. And that's Elizabeth Warren.

[Sparkly]

10. I like Warren, too.

In either case, I think the debate rules -- if Trump debates -- need to change in the general election campaign because Trump is such a boor. The mics need to be cut when it's not the candidate's turn to speak so that he can not interrupt ("Wrong! Wrong!" "You're the puppet!" "Yeah cuz you'd be in jail!" etc.). Responding in some specific way (not too softly not too loudly, assertive but not scowling but not fake smiling but not defensive but still defending yourself etc.) to inane interruptions shouldn't be a test of presidential ability, imho.

[USALiberal]

11. Klobuchar was mean IMO, not a good performance! Nt

[Sparkly]

12. Funny how we can see the same exchange in two completely different ways.

[left-of-center2012]

15. How is she polling?

Latest RCP S.C. poll
Biden 26.8
Sanders 21.7
Steyer 14.7
Buttigieg 9.8
Warren 9.0
Klobuchar 5.7
Gabbard 2.7
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2020/president/sc/south_carolina_democratic_presidential_primary-6824.html

Latest 538 S.C. poll
Biden 30.3
Sanders 22.8
Steyer 12.9
Bloomberg 10.0
Buttigieg 8.4
Warren 8.3
Klobuchar 4.2
https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/president-primary-d/south-carolina/

[blm]

16. Warren did NOT misrepresent herself as a minority. Millions of families have

taken the DNA tests and are waking up one day to discover their oft-told family stories of ancestry aren’t accurate.