LEBANON — The crowd at the Spark Community Center on Saturday was shoulder to shoulder listening to Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., deliver harsh criticism of President Donald Trump and lay out her agenda for the country should she win the presidency.
Touting her moderate credentials and ability to win in Republican districts in her state, Klobuchar spoke for about an hour, notably outlining how she would take on Trump if she became the nominee.
“In the primary, we need to make sure we put up a candidate that is tough enough to take him on,” Klobuchar said, referring to Trump. “With morals — yes — the truth — yes — and policies that can change people’s lives — yes — but also have to be willing to take him on the debate stage in front of the American people.
“The one thing that is bringing people out — patriotism, like I told you — but it is also that they believe we can do better in our country and they want someone who is up to the challenges.”
Klobuchar, who was on the second day of a two-day swing through New England, including a stop earlier Saturday in New London, mixed her personal story, her election victories and her agenda with a fair amount of humor, directed at times toward Trump.
At one point she noted the Democrats have had some significant wins recently, and two of those — governorships in conservative Kentucky and Louisiana — were places where Trump campaigned for the Republican candidate.
“It makes me want to ask where can we send him now,” Klobuchar said to laughter.
She said Democrats are poised to make 2020 a sweeping victory for their party. But barely winning the White House is not good enough for Klobuchar, who thinks the party can gain control of both chambers of Congress, where Democrats are already the majority in the House.
“My goal on election night is to win big; it is to win the presidency and send Mitch McConnell packing,” Klobuchar said of the Republican Senate majority leader from Kentucky. “We Democrats cannot afford to screw this up. It is there and the people are with us.”
Though she never said Trump should be impeached, she spoke with admiration for the people who gave testimony before the House Intelligence Committee last week that many believe clearly showed Trump demanding Ukraine investigate his political rival, Joe Biden, in exchange for military aid.
Klobuchar took a few other shots at Trump, calling him not a “bully,” but a “whiner,” who takes credit when things go right but blames others when things go wrong, such as the trade war, and said he has abandoned American values that are at the core of our democracy.
“For us, this election is a patriotism check; it is a values check,” Klobuchar said. “We have a president who is putting his private interests in front of his country in so many ways.
“ ‘Reasserting our American values’ — to me this means standing true to our American democracy. We now have person that doesn’t care about that.”
When she got to discussing her agenda, Klobuchar began with health care and promised to keep in place the protections under the Affordable Care Act, such as coverage for pre-existing conditions.
She also promised — unlike some of the farther-left candidates who propose Medicare for All — a nonprofit public option that would compete with the private sector to bring down costs.
On pharmaceuticals, Klobuchar said she would end a policy that prevents Medicare, which has about 43 million people enrolled, from negotiating lower drug prices.
“That would create tremendous competitive pressure that would not only help seniors but help everyone,” Klobuchar said.
She also would push to allow the import of less expensive drugs from other countries
“These are real things we can do. They are not impossible,” she said.
She also promised to do more about long-term care, as the population ages, and more affordable housing for everyone.
Finally, on climate change, Klobuchar said bringing the U.S. back into the international climate agreement and bringing back clean power rules and stricter gas mileage standards would all be done in her first 100 days.
Gus Lienhard, a semi-retired professor from Hanover, found some space to sit with his grandson, Finn Does, 14, who was visiting from California for the holidays.
“I’m certainly leaning toward Amy,” Lienhard said as he waited for her to arrive. “I like her moderate-progressive (stance) rather than someone like Bernie (Sanders) or Elizabeth (Warren). I think Amy has a better chance of winning (against Trump) because of her moderate stance. That is where the American people are.”
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.
