Live from New Hampshire: Klobuchar could surprise tonight in New Hampshire By Luke Perry
Amy Klobuchar has experienced a positive spike in donations following Friday’s debate in New Hampshire, and received endorsements from major papers in the state, including the Union Leader, Seacoast papers, and The Keene Sentinel.
Klobuchar told supporters in Salem on Sunday that “we are surging.” She seeks a “big tent” Democratic party that can appeal to Democrats, independents, and moderate Republicans.
Klobuchar emphasized her ability to win rural voters, by looking people in the eyes, telling them the truth, and getting things done to help them. This style of representation has been key to winning Republican districts of Minnesota, where she was first elected Senator in 2006.
“I won Michelle Bachmann’s district three times,” Klobuchar said, prompting a laugh from the crowd. Bachmann, a Republican, represented MN-6 from 2007 to 2015, and ran for the president in 2012.
Photo by Luke Perry
Klobuchar spoke of many “checks” needed on the current administration.
An “economic check” is necessary to stop the president from giving tax breaks to America’s wealthiest and telling them “you all just got a lot richer.”
A “decency check” is needed to demonstrate how “the heart of America is bigger than the heart of the guy in the White House.”
Klobuchar wants to tell the president on the debate stage that the Midwest is not flyover country and their workers and farmers should not be treated “like poker chips in one of his bankrupt casinos.”
Prompting more laughter, Klobuchar said she “wants to build a beautiful blue wall around the Midwest and make Donald Trump pay for it.”
Photo by Luke Perry
Much of Klobuchar’s story was told through discussion of her family. “The unions saved my grandpa,” Klobuchar explained, citing the dangerous conditions that existed in the mines where he worked.
Klobuchar spoked of her father’s struggles with alcohol addiction in discussing the challenges surrounding opioids and mental health. “I bet everyone knows someone touched by this issue.”
Klobuchar discussed several policy issues from calling for “an optimistic economic agenda” to citing how the Affordable Care Act is 10 points more popular than President Trump. “I don’t why he’d want to blow it up,” said Klobuchar.
Klobuchar also hit similar notes to other candidates, generating applause for calling for the ousting of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, and allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices, which she would immediately permit through executive order.
Klobuchar wants to invest in infrastructure, end the demonization of immigrants, combat climate change, and work to have education better match labor needs.
As a whole, Klobuchar pledged to lead with her head and her heart.
Photo by Luke Perry
The latest Quinnipiac poll, released yesterday, has her defeating President Trump head-to-head. This is the case for all of the top Democratic candidates.
Uniquely, however, her favorability was plus ten points (32 percent to 22 percent), much better than other candidates, though 44 percent haven’t heard enough about her to make a determination.
A third place finish in New Hampshire would help change that. This is not out of the question with Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren appearing to fade in recent weeks. Klobuchar trails them both by a few points in the final polling, though within the major of error.
Klobuchar certainly has a chance to surprise this evening as she seeks a defining moment to propel her candidacy into the top tier.
Luke Perry (@PolSciLukePerry) is Professor of Government at Utica College reporting from Manchester, New Hampshire
