Polling at 4% in NC, Amy Klobuchar counts on ‘grit’ to carry her through Super Tuesday
Sen. Amy Klobuchar told The News & Observer Thursday she has defied expectations many times already in the presidential race and hopes to do it again on Tuesday.
“I think a lot of people didn’t think I’d still be on that debate stage,” Klobuchar said. “I’m not the biggest bank account, I’m not the biggest name, but I’ve kept going because of the support of regular people.”
Klobuchar spoke to a crowd of both supporters and undecided voters in an event space just outside of downtown Raleigh.
“For any of you that have been watching the debates, I hope you’ve seen that I have grit,” Klobuchar told the cheering crowd. “I started with my announcement in the middle of a snowstorm with 4 inches of snow on my head, and many of the pundits predicted I wouldn’t even make it through the announcement ... then (I) made it to every single debate stage.”
Klobuchar is polling at just 4% in North Carolina, according to Public Policy Polling, behind Joe Biden (23%), Bernie Sanders (20%), Michael Bloomberg (17%), Elizabeth Warren (11%) and Pete Buttigieg (9%), but her campaign has ramped up its efforts in the state ahead of Super Tuesday.
The Minnesota senator’s campaign announced Feb. 24 that it would add more staff in North Carolina. After events in Greensboro and Raleigh Thursday, Klobuchar planned to participate in a town hall and fundraiser in Raleigh Thursday night and visit Charlotte on Saturday.
Thursday afternoon, Klobuchar spoke about a range of issues, including climate change, health care and education.
“I actually came up with 137 things that a new president can do herself, without Congress, in the first 100 days that are legal,” Klobuchar said, then took a shot at President Donald Trump’s secretary of education. “The first thing we can do in the first 100 seconds is fire Betsy DeVos.”
Randi Finley, a homeschool mother of three, brought her kids along to the event. She’s still deciding who she’ll vote for between Pete Buttigieg and Klobuchar.
“I like a middle-of-the-road candidate,” Finley, 35, said.
Klobuchar promises unity
In a poll released Thursday, Elon University found two-thirds of North Carolina voters said political division had “made their life uncomfortable at times.”
Klobuchar promised Thursday to bring people together.
“You have to bring people with you,” Klobuchar said. “I have done that — all the way back to fourth grade when my slogan was ‘All the way with Amy K.’”
“You know how important every single vote is in this state,” Klobuchar said. “Every single vote is going to matter. I don’t want us to leave ... people behind.”
Connie Pitcavage and Fran Haislip, both retired teachers, are drawn to Klobuchar because they believe she works well with others.
“I saw her in the Brett Kavanaugh hearings, and her interaction with him was really good,” Pitcavage said. “That’s when she came on my radar. I like how she handles herself.”
Asked who she would vote for if Klobuchar did not win the nomination, Haislip said, “Whoever the Democratic nominee is.”
Sarah and John Pearce brought their 12-week-old daughter to the event. Though they’ve already voted for Klobuchar, they wanted to come out and support her.
The Pearces, both 33, were particularly impressed by how the presidential hopeful addressed the coronavirus on the debate stage in Charleston Tuesday night.
“She’s a normal person that’s not into yelling and screaming,” John Pearce said.
He was a registered Republican until the 2016 election.
“I couldn’t vote for Trump,” he said.
Klobuchar is the second candidate to visit North Carolina in the week leading up tothe state’s primary on March 3. Sanders addressed issues around poverty with the Rev. William Barber II in Goldsboro Wednesday night and visited Winston-Salem State University on Thursday.
Biden and Buttigieg will visit Raleigh over the weekend, while Bloomberg will be in Charlotte. Trump is slated to visit Monday — just one day ahead of Super Tuesday.
For more North Carolina government and politics news, listen to the Domecast politics podcast from The News & Observer and the NC Insider. You can find it on Megaphone, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Stitcher or wherever you get your podcasts.
This story was originally published February 27, 2020 at 4:02 PM.