• About
  • Advertise
  • Careers
  • Write for us
  • Contact
  • Terms of service
Saturday, June 25, 2022
The Millennial Source
TMS
Home WORLD

Who is Amy Klobuchar?

byJoseph Lyttleton
May 27, 2020
in WORLD
Who is Amy Klobuchar?

Source: David Lane from Union Leader

Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Linkedin



Last week, multiple news agencies reported that Senator Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat from Minnesota, was being considered as Joe Biden’s running mate.

Klobuchar has had a successful career in both law and politics, but many Democrats and progressives believe that choosing her would represent a missed opportunity to select a woman of color for the role.

For months, Biden has insisted that he will choose a woman to be his running mate if he secures the Democratic nomination, which he has all but clinched now that his former opponents have ended their campaigns.

Whoever Biden chooses would have the potential to make history as the first female vice president (VP) in the history of the United States. In recent elections, the selection of a vice president has often been as much about their experience as their ability to bring out a specific segment of voters.

Amy Klobuchar’s early career

Born in Plymouth, Klobuchar is a native daughter of Minnesota. Her father, Jim Klobuchar, is the son of Slovenian immigrants and spent his career as a well-regarded journalist who once worked for the Minneapolis-based Star Tribune. Amy’s mother, Rose Klobuchar, was the daughter of Swiss immigrants and taught second grade until she was 70. Rose died in 2010.

Following graduation from Wayzata High School in Plymouth, Klobuchar left the state to study political science at Yale. After graduating magna cum laude from Yale in 1982, she returned to the Midwest to complete a law degree at the University of Chicago Law School, which, in 1985, led to a job with the private Minneapolis law firm, Dorsey & Whitney.

Klobuchar later became a partner at Dorsey & Whitney and another Minneapolis-based law firm, Gray Plant Mooty.

During this period of her life, she began her political association with the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), which is affiliated with the national Democratic Party. Klobuchar was said to be contemplating a run for political office even then.

Klobuchar married John Bessler, an attorney, in 1993, and had a daughter, Abigail, in 1995.

Amy Klobuchar’s political career

After her time in private law, Klobuchar was elected as the county attorney for Hennepin County, which includes Minneapolis and has the largest population of all the counties in Minnesota. Her father’s public struggles with alcoholism, and in particular his multiple arrests while driving under the influence, inspired Klobuchar to seek stricter penalties for drunk driving.

Klobuchar is considerably popular in her home state. In 2006, following the announcement that one-term Senator Mark Dayton would not run for reelection, Klobuchar ran for office and sailed to an “easy victory” in the words of Minnesota Public Radio. She was the first woman in state history to serve in the US Senate.

Her popularity has held strong. In 2018, she was reelected to the Senate with more than 60% of the vote.

In 2019 and the early months of 2020, Klobuchar parlayed that home-state success into a run for president as the potential Democratic nominee. As a centrist candidate, Klobuchar had a number of notable debate performances alongside Biden, as well as progressive Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. Nonetheless, Klobuchar dropped out in March, having failed to gain traction in the primaries.

With reports suggesting that Biden has asked Klobuchar to undergo vetting as a potential running mate, her time in the national spotlight is likely not yet at an end.

Objections to Amy Klobuchar as VP

Who is Amy Klobuchar
Source: Meg Kinnard

Appearing via video chat on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Thursday, May 22, Biden was asked directly whether Klobuchar was being vetted as VP. He responded, “No one has been vetted yet by the team” because the process hadn’t started yet. However, Biden said the “very invasive process” would be beginning soon.

Regardless of how seriously Klobuchar is being considered for the position, Politico reports that the possibility of her selection has already received considerable pushback from varied members of the Democratic coalition. Black and Latino activists have warned that not choosing a woman of color for the position could undermine the Democrats’ outreach to those vital voter bases.

Political activist Zerlina Maxwell tweeted on May 21, “Joe Biden needs to pick a black woman as VP. That’s it. That’s the tweet.”

Joe Biden needs to pick a black woman as VP. That’s it. That’s the tweet.

— Zerlina Maxwell (@ZerlinaMaxwell) May 21, 2020

Similarly, progressive supporters of Sanders and Warren have said they are not inspired by the possibility of a VP with a centrist leaning. They warn that Klobuchar won’t appeal to the left wing of the party and will not excite other voters.

I love amy klobuchar as a VP pick: excites zero additional people, adds nothing, angers the same people who’d be mad about Kamala Harris but without making the people excited about Harris happy.

— Aaron Taube🌹🧹 (@aptaube) May 22, 2020

Still, Klobuchar’s popularity in Minnesota suggests that she has value in the Midwestern states that Biden would need to win in order to take the White House. Klobuchar on the ticket could help secure Minnesota, a state narrowly won by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election.

A 2019 Star Tribune poll of head-to-head matchups between President Donald Trump and four Democrats – Biden, Sanders, Warren and Klobuchar – had the Minnesota senator winning by the largest margin of all four nominees.

Have a tip or story? Get in touch with our reporters at [email protected]

Sign up for daily news briefs from The Millennial Source here!

Related

Tags: Profile
Share290TweetShare

Latest Posts

Live Zero

Meet Live Zero, Hong Kong’s first zero waste bulk store

May 8, 2022
MsLolo

South African singer and actor MsLolo on infusing Hong Kong with African culture

May 6, 2022
Southpaw Board Co.

Meet Southpaw Board Co. – the skateboard designer combining classic cool and modern minimalism

February 15, 2022

Who is the CEO of BioNTech, Uğur Şahin?

September 26, 2021

Who is Jeff Bezos?

June 28, 2021

Who is Vanita Gupta?

April 28, 2021

Who is Beeple, AKA Mike Winkelmann?

March 22, 2021

Who is Madison Cawthorn?

March 21, 2021

Who is David Solomon?

March 16, 2021

SUBSCRIBE TO THE TMS NEWSLETTER

By providing your email, you agree to our Privacy Policy

The Millennial Source Ltd. 2021

No Result
View All Result
  • Your daily briefing
  • About us
  • Explore
    • Startups
    • Climate change
    • Tech giants
    • Crypto
    • The future of work
    • Banking giants
    • Economy
  • Lifestyle
  • Human stories
  • TMS archives
  • Write for us
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy & Terms

2022 The Millennial Source Ltd.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

You can find out more about which cookies we are using or switch them off in settings.

 

Loading Comments...
 

    string(24) "jsonld single post debug"
    The Millennial Source
    Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

    Strictly Necessary Cookies

    Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

    If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.