Amy Klobuchar’s long-shot bid for the Democratic presidential nomination ended Monday.
After major setbacks in Nevada and South Carolina, with Super Tuesday looming, she could no longer rationalize being in the race.
Minnesota’s U.S. senator campaigned more than a year and involved herself in 10 debates; she should be credited for exceeding expectations and outlasting many better-known candidates. Congratulate her on several newspaper endorsements, which often focused on her realism, grit and temperament.
Let’s also acknowledge that in a massive field, where candidates seem in an endless leftward lurch, perhaps a results-driven pragmatist who refused to embrace socialism never had a chance.
Most of the time, Klobuchar positioned herself as a competent voice who would restore integrity; yet even hailing from Minnesota, where Democrats are rightly concerned about Republican momentum, Klobuchar’s pragmatic pleas that she could reclaim the Midwest never materialized.
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A well-prepared Klobuchar challenged the extremists in debates and on the trail, explaining what’s in store for America if Bernie Sanders enacts his preposterous agenda.
Despite what the fringes claim, Klobuchar is still an ardent liberal. She holds positions that until recently were considered the definition of liberalism; now those beliefs are apparently insufficient. Even former president Barack Obama recently said many Democrats’ current plans are “not rooted in reality.”
Klobuchar has never received a rating lower than 85 percent from Americans for Democratic Action. She’s only centrist compared to radicals who would’ve been laughed off stage a decade ago.
Democrat voters should know chances are slim that a divisive demagogue like Bernie Sanders can defeat Donald Trump, and the socialist also likely hurts the party down ballot in places like Arizona, Georgia, Florida and North Carolina.
However, now it’s time for Klobuchar to return attention to the job Minnesotans re-hired her for only 16 months ago.
AJ Kaufman
Little Falls
