Iowans “Really Impressed” with Klobuchar, She Stood Out Last Night
DES MOINES, IA — Real. Authentic. Specific. Folksy. Humorous. Middle-class fighter. Senator Amy Klobuchar is the candidate with solutions for the real problems Iowans face. Check out some reactions from last night’s debate.
Iowa Starting Line,
Early Reactions & Final Reactions:
Winterset Debate Watch Party
Lynette Judd, 52, Winterset
Judd thought that Klobuchar stood out tonight. “You know, I know where she’s from and all of her basics and background, but just that she’s speaking out for policies and specific policies like well, how she’s feeling about healthcare. That’s a big one for everyone,” Judd said.
Fairfield Debate Watch Party
Kathy Snow, 52, Fairfield
Of Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Snow said she was “really impressed she won in all of those red counties. It has to be the most electable,” she said of the eventual Democratic nominee. “It just has to be.”
Winterset Debate Watch Party
Jennifer Frye, 40, Winterset, Works in Financial Services and Insurance
“Amy Klobuchar and Julián Castro were the two candidates that Frye wasn’t paying attention to before tonight that she is now.”
Clive Debate Watch Party
Kim Holland, retired
[S]he’s also been impressed by Klobuchar and Castro tonight. They’ve come on strong and grabbed her attention. “She knows hogs, corn and soybeans,” Holland said of Klobuchar. Holland also comes from Minnesota and has been impressed by how well Klobuchar has done in elections.
Des Moines Register (via USA Today):
Winners: [...] Klobuchar had some zingers. The Minnesota senator was quick to pop in with one-liners that were memorable, catchy and pointed.
Klobuchar bashed Trump for saying he would bring down drug prices, something she said the president has yet to do. "That's what we call at home all foam and no beer," Klobuchar said.
During the debate, she also called out Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, who claimed he had done more than any other 2020 candidate to protect reproductive rights for women. Klobuchar immediately responded with a laugh, adding: "I just want to say there's three women up here that have fought pretty hard for a women's right to choose, I'll start with that."
Iowa City Press-Citizen (via USA Today):
Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota made the pitch for pragmatism, proposing free community college as a more feasible way to help ease college costs and backing calls for a public option instead of a Medicare for all.
Washington Post:
[Klobuchar] was one of the debate standouts, making the case calmly and persistently for a public option, cautioning against free college for rich kids and hammering at drug prices.
Winners: NBC moderators (who covered a huge amount of ground and wasted no time on silly queries); Booker and Klobuchar.
CBS:
Tonight at the debate in Miami, one of Klobuchar's three guests will be Iowa resident Fran Parr. Bidar and Brewster say in April, as parts of Iowa were hit with historic flooding, Parr's home was under nine feet of water. Klobuchar was the first presidential candidate to visit Parr's house in Pacific Junction as part of her tour of flooded areas in southwest Iowa in the spring.
Politico:
Amy Klobuchar got one of the biggest applause lines of the night. [...] “I just want to say there are three women up here who fought very hard for a woman's right to choose,” Klobuchar said. The loudest applause of the night rippled through the hall and briefly drowned her out.
Klobuchar's zingers: [...] Klobuchar delivered another zinger minutes later, criticizing President Donald Trump for failing to follow through on his claim to negotiate a better deal with Tehran. “This president is literally every single day 10 minutes away from going to war, one tweet away from going to war," she said, "and I don’t think we should conduct foreign policy in our bathrobe at 5 in the morning.”
Washington Post:
Klobuchar, in her closing statement, argued that as a U.S. senator, she has a lengthy track record of getting laws passed. “I listened and I acted, and I think that’s important in a president,” she said.
USA Today:
Sen. Amy Klobuchar has emerged as the most aggressive critic of Trump in the debate, attacking the president on immigration, the economy and Iran. “He has made us less safe than we are right now,” Klobuchar said in response to a question about the Iran nuclear deal. “This president is literally every single day 10 minutes away from going to war, one tweet away from going to war,” Klobuchar said. “I don’t think we should conduct foreign policy in our bathrobe at 5 in the morning.”
