Klobuchar all-in on Iowa as 2020 field grows
Published 8:01 am Monday, March 18, 2019
Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar is going all-in on Iowa as she tries to become the Democratic nominee for president, returning to the nation’s leadoff caucus state this weekend for a flurry of stops — her third visit since launching her campaign just over a month ago.
Klobuchar pitches herself as the next-door neighbor who understands issues facing middle America, scoffs at a snowstorm and “can see Iowa from my front porch.” At house parties, bars and spaghetti dinners she’s referred to Iowans as “my friends” and reminded them she knows how to win in both big cities and rural areas, a key to defeating President Donald Trump in 2020.
It’s a strategy that could make Klobuchar competitive in a state that prizes Midwestern familiarity and values. But Klobuchar will have mounting competition for Iowa voters — and plenty of company — as she works to stand out among better-known Democrats with a lot more money.
“I am a candidate from the heartland,” Klobuchar told reporters in Des Moines recently, calling Iowa and the rest of the Midwest “an important part” of her path to success. She said she’s hoping for a top-three finish in the Iowa caucus.
Her trip will coincide with the maiden Iowa voyage for Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke, the former Texas congressman who shot to stardom with his failed 2018 bid to unseat Sen. Ted Cruz.
O’Rourke has been polling higher in Iowa than Klobuchar, a three-term senator and regular visitor to the state. He’s scheduled to attend the same Waterloo event a few hours after Klobuchar and also to visit Cedar Rapids, where Klobuchar will march in a St. Patrick’s Day parade, inviting inevitable comparisons of crowd sizes and enthusiasm.
The crossover is to be expected with more than a dozen Democrats battling for the chance to unseat Republican President Donald Trump and several others, including former Vice President Joe Biden, potentially getting in the race soon.