Sen. Amy Klobuchar to decide soon on presidential bid [View all]

WASHINGTON – Sen. Amy Klobuchar said Wednesday that she is “getting close to a decision” about running for president in 2020, as other prominent Democrats begin to jump in the race to challenge President Donald Trump next year.

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“It doesn’t really matter to me what dates they do it or how they do it,” Klobuchar said of her potential Democratic rivals. “But I do think with a field this big, you don’t have the luxury of waiting for six months or something like that. There’ll be raising money issues, you have issues of hiring people and starting an organization. So all of those things would dictate that you have to make a decision sooner rather than later.” Klobuchar finished fourth out of 12 possible Democratic contenders in a poll of likely Iowa caucusgoers taken in mid-December, with 10 percent support. Biden, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and then-U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke finished higher.

Klobuchar said in the interview that her record of bipartisan collaboration would make for a strong contrast with Trump, who she said “seems to gravitate to chaos.” “The way you get to higher ground is by finding common ground,” Klobuchar said. While not yet a candidate, Klobuchar shared some thoughts on issues she’d likely emphasize if she runs, and what she sees as her political path. She pointed to a handful of things she’s worked on in the Senate — like pushing for cheaper pharmaceuticals, data and internet privacy, and security of American elections — as the kind of kitchen-table issues that many voters think have been neglected in the Trump era.

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The political calculation behind Klobuchar’s potential bid is that Democrats would benefit from a candidate with deep Midwestern roots, given Minnesota and nearby states like Wisconsin, Michigan and Iowa could be up for grabs in the next election. Trump carried Michigan and Wisconsin in 2016, the first time either state went for a Republican in many years, and Democrat Hillary Clinton only narrowly carried Minnesota.

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A handful of other Democratic senators running or likely to run hail from East or West Coast states. While Klobuchar’s Midwestern profile distinguishes her, she’s also further removed from important Democratic donor communities based in those parts of the country — like Wall Street, Hollywood and Silicon Valley. Many of those coastal politicians also represent a much more diverse electorate than in Minnesota, leaving Klobuchar with fewer ties to minority groups that are increasingly pivotal to the Democratic coalition.

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http://www.startribune.com/sen-amy-klobuchar-to-decide-soon-on-presidential-bid/503804122/