Amy Klobuchar

Her selling points:

Personal appeal. She is likable, in a girl-next-door kind of way. But is that what you want in a president? Could she stand up to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Israel lobby, Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong-un?

Electability. Yes, she won big in Minnesota. But, she hasn’t run against anyone. She came in with great name recognition – her father was a longtime sports columnist for the StarTribune, had the Democratic establishment behind her and has kept close to her constituency. She brags about her margin of victory in 2018, but the Republicans were focused on the other senate seat (a special election for term vacated by Al Franken’s resignation). She raised $10 million; her opponent raised $210 thousand! Similarly, in 2012 she raised $6.3M to her opponent’s $410K. You can say she’s a good fundraiser, but it’s also true that the Republican Party basically ignored the races. She never mentions this when she talks of her electability.

She gets bills passed. While it may be true that she has gotten more bills passed than any other Democratic Senator, I doubt that any of them were at all controversial. She has never taken a controversial position or stuck her neck out. I remember her biggest legislative accomplishment her first term was getting a bill passed requiring public swimming pools to have a grate over any underwater drain, a response to a kid in Edina or somewhere drowning. She sticks to mom-and-pop issues, which may be okay for a Senator but not the kind of leadership I want in a President.

There was a letter in the Times this week challenging her record on the environment, which is a good example. Mike Bloomberg talks of taking on the coal industry. Amy has been wishy-washy about the mining industry in Minnesota – e.g., should a foreign mining company be allowed to dig near the Boundary Waters – for fear of alienating any voters. Franken was always out front on liberal and social issues. Amy always lagged back. It’s certainly been a good strategy in this race, allowing her to appear moderate and reasonable in comparison to Bernie and Warren; but I prefer Bloomberg, who speaks out about his positions, to Amy, who seems content to be a compromise candidate.