Klobuchar: The Big Winner in New Hampshire

Amy Klobuchar

Amy Klobuchar, after a strong debate performance last Friday, came in a strong third in New Hampshire last night. She left Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren in the dust and came in only behind Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg. And only a couple of points behind Buttigieg.

From The Hill:

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) on Tuesday night celebrated her strong showing in the New Hampshire primary as early results appeared to show her heading to a top-three finish.

From CNBC:

Amy Klobuchar cemented her place in the top tier of Democratic presidential candidates on Tuesday, finishing in the top three in the New Hampshire primary, according to NBC News.

Her no-nonsense, moderate message helped her outpace previous front-runners Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren.

BTW, I spotted her coming out of the second tier pack last June. At that time, I wrote when reporting on last year's California Democratic convention:

Eric Swalwell spoke but left no impression. Neither did Kirsten Gillibrand...

Jay Inslee, governor of Washington state, took to the stage wearing glasses that made him look like the late Nelson Rockefeller. His campaign isn't going anywhere. It is probably already as dead as Nelson.

The sleeper amongst the relative unknowns might be Senator Amy Klobuchar from Minnesota. Not that she has solid policy positions but she was very skilled at speaking to the crowd, and you got the sense that she is probably quick thinking on her feet, which will surely help her in the debates.

Now, she will be tested. The opposition research will dig into her, given that she has entered the top tier. We will get to see what is in her closet.

But if opposition research can't take her down, libertarians shouldn't be excited.

I wrote in December:

This woman is a nicely wrapped tool of the Empire.

During a recent appearance at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City, Klobuchar discussed her foreign policy views. While on occasion she suggested negotiations, it was also clear during her talk, and the Q&A that followed, that she sees an active role for the US in global affairs and that she would do what is necessary as president to keep the boot of the US Empire on the neck of any country that steps out of line---particularly Russia and China.

And she is a big supporter of the US-controlled United Nations and NATO muscle operations.

There is nothing in her speech to indicate the Deep State would be concerned about her as president. She should be considered a middle-of-the-road war hawk. That is lukewarm on at least some wars but probably very easily pushed into any war given the right "incident."

 She has also said:

On day one, I will rejoin the international climate change agreement.

She says encryption technologies on consumer devices, such as iPhones, unduly hinder counterterrorism investigations.

In 2013, she defended a controversial National Security Agency surveillance program that secretly collected bulk metadata from domestic telephone calls. “Dozens of potential terrorist attacks were averted” because of the program, she says.

In 2007 she was one of sixteen Democratic senators to vote for an update to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) that allowed for easier warrantless surveillance of terrorism suspects.
 She promises to “aggressively combat illegal Chinese steel dumping” by expanding existing trade enforcement efforts and has expressed support for President Donald J. Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminum. As a senator, she pressed the Barack Obama administration to take action on Chinese steel.

Klobuchar calls Nicolas Maduro a “dictator” and says that she approves of Washington seeking to push him out, and that a “military [response] should always be on the table.”

She cosponsored the resolution on the Green New Deal framework put forward by congressional Democrats, though she calls it “aspirational” and in need of more specifics.

She proposes stricter oversight of large technology firms, including federal investigations into potentially anticompetitive practices at Amazon, Facebook, and Google, which she says “may well be broken up” under her administration.

She calls infrastructure her “top budget priority,” proposing a $1 trillion plan that would include $650 billion in direct federal funding and the rest in loans, loan guarantees, and other financial incentives.
She proposes paying for the program through changes to the tax system, including raising the corporate rate to 25 percent, increasing taxes on corporate foreign earnings, and imposing a Soros favorite a “financial risk fee” on big banks.

-RW