Minnesotan Amy Klobuchar has spunk. And it says here that Americans are going to like it.
Minnesotan Amy Klobuchar has spunk. And it says here that Americans are going to like it.

Amy Klobuchar for America

There are many metrics for what makes a good president, but being able to deliver a speech in falling snow and mid-teen temperatures without a hat or gloves for nearly a half hour isn’t one of them.

Fortunately for Americans, there’s more to Amy Klobuchar’s candidacy than Sunday’s wintry scene on the shore of the Mississippi River. The Minnesota Democrat is the real deal.

Entering a crowded field of presidential aspirants, Sen. Klobuchar is not yet a frontrunner. Much will transpire over the next 600 days in what is likely to be the most brutally fought and tediously analyzed presidential election since, what? 2016.

Back in November, I suggested that two Democrats have the best shot at winning the presidency: California’s freshman Sen. Kamala Harris and Minnesota’s three-term veteran Sen. Amy Klobuchar. Both women have since formally declared their candidacies, and each has gotten off to a smooth start. I’m most impressed by Klobuchar.

Face it, the process of picking a president drags on for too long. Incessant polling is pointless. Cable TV’s obsession with daily minutiae is boring. And yes, early analysis by thumbsucking opinion writers is often underwhelming.

But, and it’s a big but, this campaign is different. Donald Trump rewrote the rules in 2016, and his victory shocked the nation. The Trump presidency is an embarrassment; worse, it is dangerous. To say that 2020 might be the most important election of our lives is not an exaggeration.

So it’s vital that politicians, pundits, and the public engage right now.

Amy Klobuchar is a progressive but drifts closer to the center of liberal politics than, say, Senators Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and to a slightly lesser degree Kamala Harris. For example, Klobuchar favors repairing the Affordable Care Act and lowering the prices of prescription drugs but stops short of “Medicare for all.” She acknowledges the need for immigration reform but doesn’t advocate abolishing I.C.E. as some progressives have.

Klobuchar seeks to aggressively combat climate change, favors automatic voter registration when people turn 18, and demands mandatory background checks and other measures for tighter gun control.

Candidates with more extreme positions tend to be effective in primaries but not so much in the general election. Democrats would have to go back to 1972, when George McGovern was the nominee, to find a candidate with positions significantly left of center. McGovern won only Massachusetts and Washington, D.C. and lost in the Electoral College 520-17.

If ever there was an election in which Democrats need to rally early around a somewhat more centrist candidate, this is it. The singular goal should be retaking the White House.

One negative that has already surfaced in Klobuchar’s campaign is the senator’s demanding, at times harsh, treatment of her staff. This troubles me, as it should all voters.

Klobuchar concedes that she has been tough. Several reporters, including CNN’s Dana Bash, who is well connected on Capitol Hill, note that women in elected office often feel the need to push their employees and themselves harder than their male counterparts do. Bash also asks, as many observers have, if a male candidate would be subjected to the same type of scrutiny that Sen. Klobuchar has.

I don’t think this will ultimately be a barrier for Klobuchar. She’s positioning herself as a Midwesterner with “grit.” I like grit, but I don’t like a public persona that is contradicted by behavior in private, so I hope we’ve already heard all there is to hear about Klobuchar’s baggage.

The perfect Democrat to defeat Donald Trump is a center-left, middle-aged, limited-baggage, experienced woman from Mid-America. Like it or not, age and sex are important this time around. The nation needs a somewhat younger president, and it needs to break the glass ceiling once and for all.

Lou Grant, the fictional news director, once said to Minnesota up-and-comer Mary Richards, “Mary, you’ve got spunk.”

Then he added, “And I hate spunk.”

Well, Minnesotan Amy Klobuchar has spunk. And it says here that Americans are going to like it.

The viewpoints expressed above are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of The Independent.

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Peter Funt
In print and on television, Peter Funt continues the Funt Family tradition of making people smile – while examining the human condition. After 15 years hosting the landmark TV series “Candid Camera,” Peter writes frequent op-eds for The Boston Globe and The Wall Street Journal as well as his weekly column distributed by the Cagle Cartoon Syndicate. His writing contains the same pointed social observations that have made “Candid Camera” so popular since its invention by Peter’s dad, Allen, back in 1947. His new book, "Cautiously Optimistic," takes America's temperature in six-dozen essays, guaranteed to make readers think and smile. It's available at Amazon.com and through CandidCamera.com. Peter is a frequent speaker before business groups and on college campuses, using the vast “Candid Camera” library to bring his points to life. His newest presentation for corporate audiences, “The Candid You,” draws upon decades of people-watching to identify factors that promote better communication and productivity. Details about Peter Funt’s speaking engagements are available at: www.CandidCamera.com. See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naYXOGIktsw for video. Peter hosted the newest versions of “Candid Camera” in recent years with Suzanne Somers and Dina Eastwood, with complete collections now available on DVD. Peter Funt actually made his first appearance on “Candid Camera” when he and the legendary series were each just three years old. Peter posed as a shoeshine boy who charged $10 per shoe! Since that time he has appeared in hundreds of “Candid Camera” sequences, hosted over 200 network episodes. In addition to his hidden-camera work, Peter Funt has produced and hosted TV specials on the Arts & Entertainment and Lifetime cable networks. He also spent five years as an editor and reporter with ABC News in New York. Earlier in his career, Peter wrote dozens of articles for The New York Times and TV Guide about television and film. He was editor and publisher of the television magazine On Cable. And he authored the book "Gotcha!" for Grosset & Dunlap on the lost art of practical joking. Peter’s essay on the evolution of television is included in “The Story of American Business,” published in 2009 by Harvard Business Press. Peter also follows in his father's footsteps as President of Laughter Therapy Foundation, a non-profit organization started by Allen Funt in 1982. Drawing from the Candid Camera library, Laughter Therapy sends special videos, at no charge, to critically ill people throughout the U.S. When Peter took over as host of the CBS specials, "Variety" wrote: "The latest new 'Candid Camera' specials seem to be getting funnier. Peter Funt is as personable as his dad..." Following Candid Camera's Battle of the Sexes special, "The Hollywood Reporter" observed: "This show is great fun. Peter Funt has a remarkably effective presence." Peter Funt received his degree in journalism from the University of Denver. In 2010 he returned to the Denver campus to be honored as a Master Scholar in Arts and Humanities. He is a past winner of the annual Silurian's Award for radio news reporting, for his ABC News coverage of racial disturbances in Asbury Park, NJ. Peter is founder of the Monterey County Young Journalists program in California, which provides hands-on training for high school students pursuing careers in news. He also inaugurated the Courtroom Journalism competition in Monterey County in conjunction with the Lyceum Organization, and conducts a similar statewide event for the Constitutional Rights Foundation in Los Angeles, as part of its Mock Trial program. Peter resides in Central California with his wife, Amy, and two children, Stephanie and Danny. His favorite pastimes are golf, baseball, tennis and people-watching.

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