The past few weeks have been incredibly exciting for political junkies and anyone interested in the elections. The Iowa debacle was followed by a well-executed New Hampshire primary, and from here on we have begun to develop a better picture of the 2020 race.
Perhaps the most surprising development in this timeframe has been the rise of little-known Amy Klobuchar. Whether you call it the “Klomentum,” the “Klobusurge,” or – my personal favorite – the “Klobucharge,” there is no denying that Amy Klobuchar has earned a spot at the top of the Democratic field. Her third-place finish in New Hampshire shows that she’s a viable candidate. Amy Klobuchar is the best candidate to beat President Trump in November.
Let me state firstly that I’m a Republican. I have no horse in this race. However, I can still make a good case that Klobuchar is the best Democratic candidate to defeat President Trump.
Democrats need to run a moderate candidate against President Donald Trump. In a much-ballyhooed interview on MSNBC last week, Democratic strategist James Carville stressed his concern about the leaders of the Democratic field. He thinks – and I agree – that the only moral imperative Democrats should have in this race is beating Trump. They should not use this election to push for an economic or social revolution. Despite protests to the contrary, the economy is doing very well and most people, even most Democrats who aren’t on Twitter, aren’t all that “woke.” White, college-educated progressives – who make up significant portions of Bernie Sanders’ and Elizabeth Warren’s bases (and probably the readership of this newspaper) – may hold sacred late-term abortion and decriminalizing illegal immigration, but most people don’t. In fact, most Democrats, according to the New York Times, would “rather see the party become more moderate than move leftward.”
Klobuchar is uniquely positioned in the Democratic field to lead. She is progressive on social values but does not feel the need to shove them down our throats like Warren and Sanders. More importantly, she is campaigning as an average American with a middle-class background. According to her campaign website, Klobuchar “is the granddaughter of an iron ore miner, the daughter of a newspaperman and a union teacher” who is “running to bring people together, take on the major issues facing our country and to get things done.”
There is no question in my mind that Klobuchar can win the votes of the far-left Democrats who would rather see Sanders or Warren win. If she wins the primary contest, there will likely not be a mass exodus of “Bernie Bros” like there was in 2016 to protest Clinton’s nomination. Therefore, it seems very likely that Klobuchar will be able to win the hearts of nearly all Democrats.
The only real question that Democrats need to ask themselves is: can their nominee win over the same swing districts that put Trump over the edge in the Midwest? Can they perform well with independents and moderate Republicans who would rather not vote for Trump? These voters want to vote for someone whose character is better than Trump’s and who is moderate enough for them to not feel that they are compromising on their values. Klobuchar embodies this description like no other.
Amy Klobuchar hails from the Midwest. She’s everything Trump is not – young, eloquent, female, and likeable. In fact, she is exactly the type of candidate one would think should run against Trump – and, were it up to the Democratic Party to choose the candidate (instead of voters), she would seem like an ideal choice. Klobuchar recently said that she would allow a spot in her coalition for pro-lifers, a marked contrast to Sanders’ position. Klobuchar seems like a candidate who would work across party lines, a Biden-like characteristic with none of his failing faculties. She’s also a good debater and would represent herself well on the stage against Trump. If I were in the Trump campaign, I would be most nervous about Klobuchar in the general election.
If you’re an independent or a Republican who is disenchanted with the idea of voting for Trump, you may as well vote for Klobuchar. She is the ideal candidate for Democrats in 2020: a likeable moderate with progressive bona fides. If you think Democrats should be concerned with beating President Trump in November, Klobuchar is hands-down the best option. She has the best shot of winning those states that need to be won in order to defeat Trump.
Greg Fournier is a Collegian columnist and can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @greg_fournier.
