Minnesota is a lot like Colorado, without the pot or scenery.
The two states have identical populations. Both have single, democratic, forward-thinking urban centers exerting an outsized influence over the state. Of course, forward-thinking means something different today than it once did. It means a return to the days before Donald Trump. It means a return to the past.
Amy Klobuchar is running for president. The senator from Minnesota has virtually a single plank: She has the greatest chance of any democrat in the field of beating Trump. Klobuchar hammers home this point continuously. It is the one issue transcending all others: I can beat Trump.
For progressives, deposing Trump is the only goal. It makes sense. Trump is so dangerous issues are unimportant. Nothing can ever be conceded to Trump, not a single positive. It’s all bad. Taxes, bad. Jobs, bad. Trade, bad. Removing troops from foreign entanglements, bad.
Europe, China, Iran. Bad, bad, bad.
“I would vote,” one of my progressive friends said. “for Josef Stalin. If he could beat Trump.” I laughed, then looked in his eyes. It was heart-chilling.
Beating Trump is the lens through which the democratic candidates must be viewed. And when we do this, Amy Klobuchar stands alone.
Biden? Gaffes and ethics finally sink him. Warren? Unlikeable. Sanders? Too left. Gabbert? Too right. Steyer or Bloomberg? Really? You’re going to glorify one billionaire while vilifying another? That ought to be good.
Colorado’s own Michael Bennet, a Klobuchar look-alike, also is running on the single-issue of beating Trump. Unfortunately, Colorado is safe, so he can’t claim to bring a critical swing state into the fold. Minnesota nearly went Trump in 2016. Keeping Minnesota delegates blue, with the near-certainty of dragging Wisconsin and Michigan along, is a powerful ace in the hole for Klobuchar.
In private she is said to be aloof and cynical. Underlings have testified to a volcanic temper. Still, she is Our Amy, a bland moderate who can return America to the feel-good days of Obama.
For progressives, with money in the bank and the kids in college, feeling good is the missing piece. The desire for personal happiness will sweep Klobuchar to the nomination, and possibly into the White House.
Richard Donnelly lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Classic flyover land. Which makes us feel just a little… superior. He publishes a weekly column of essays on the writing life at richarddonnelly.substack.com