she became the first woman elected to represent
Minnesota in the U.S. Senate. From January 2017 to
January 2019, Klobuchar introduced more bills than
any other Democratic Senator.
But translating legislative success into national
popularity has proved a harder nut to crack. Over
breakfast, Klobuchar suggests that her gender and
appearance might not help. “Compared to those
people on that debate stage, I look short,” she says
of her 5-ft. 4-in. stature. “I always knew that it’s a
big deal in politics—how you look and your hair
and everything. But this is a whole different level.”
The next day on CNN, Klobuchar insinuated that
Buttigieg, 37, would not be considered presidential
material if he were a woman. “Do I think we would
be standing on that stage if we had the experience
that he had?” she said on Nov. 10, referencing two
other women in the race, Warren and Harris. “No, I
don’t. Maybe we’re held to a different standard.”
Klobuchar has also had to grapple with unforced
errors. A February BuzzFeed article described her
yelling at staffers over misplaced commas, threat-
ening to fire them in front of their colleagues, and
on one occasion, chucking a binder that acciden-
tally hit an aide. Klobuchar had the highest staff-
turnover rate among her Senate colleagues from
fiscal years 2001 to 2018, according to data tracked
by LegiStorm, a nonpartisan research firm. When
I asked Klobuchar about the report, she pointed at
her prolific legislative record, a testament, she says,
to a supportive staff. But, she added, “you can al-
ways do better, and I will.”
A few days after our breakfast in Iowa, I caught
up with Klobuchar in her unpretentious Capitol
Hill apartment, where a $1.99 egg-poaching gadget
adorns the kitchen and the sole flourish—a $10 bou-
quet of tulips—was purchased in anticipation of my
visit. Klobuchar’s husband John Bessler, a law pro-
fessor, joked that if my next stop was to interview
billionaire Michael Bloomberg, “the furniture might
look a little different.” But this down-home, kitchen-
table pragmatism goes deeper than interior decor.
It’s the heart of Klobuchar’s campaign. Her support-
ers aren’t looking for soaring proposals or revolu-
tionary talk; they just want a voice in Washington
who will show up and get something done. □
‘We need
to be
reasonable,
we need to
cross party
lines, try to
unite the
country.’
WALTER
MONDALE,
former Vice
President,
describing
Klobuchar’s
message
GABRIELLA DEMCZUK FOR TIME
11
