Klobuchar Sexism and the Day the Walz-DFL Agenda Died

For Amy Klobuchar, Tim Walz, and the Minnesota DFL, it was a week ripped from the opening line of A  Tale of Two Cities–It was the best of times and the worst of times.  As Klobuchar prepares to declare her presidential candidacy and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and the DFL House majority prepare to move their agenda, reality is settling in to derail them.

Klobuchar’s Management Style: Sexism or a Legitimate Criticism?
During her 2016 presidential run I posed a quiz when it came to Hillary Clinton’s campaign:  What percentage of voters would never vote for her because she is female?  I suggested 30% and most everyone thought I was way too high.  Post 2016, I think I was too low.  Going into 2020 there is still a high percentage of voters who will never vote for women for president and sexism will be the fate any female candidate confronts, whether from the voters or the media.  The same will be true for Amy Klobuchar.
A barrage of stories have emerged from the Huffington Post and BuzzFeed that Klobuchar had horrible relations with her staff  both as US Senator and back to her day as Hennepin County Attorney.  These revelations may be news to Minnesotans but have been dirty little secrets and knowledge among insiders for years.  Klobuchar’s ability to massage the local media largely kept these stories from appearing.  Yet now that she is running for president, Klobuchar is facing the rough and tumble reality of a national media which she has not similarly been able to control.  As long as Klobuchar was simply Minnesota’s Senator, making carefully crafted statements on Rachel Maddow or in a Brent Kavanaugh hearing, she was not going to be attached.  But run for president and nothing is out of bounds.
The question is how much of the reporting is legitimate or sexism?   No doubt many men in Congress are terrible bosses and work poorly with their staff yet little or none of that is reported.  There is a double-standard when it comes to female leaders and Klobuchar is confronting that standard now.  But also for so long she has enjoyed an extended honeymoon with the press, and many of the grumblings and criticisms of her have been suppressed.  Do her personnel policies speak to her fitness as a leader?  Klobuchar’s media honeymoon is over.

The Day the Walz-DFL Agenda Died
The most important and overlooked story in Minnesota politics this week was the Senate District 11 special election where Republican Jason Rarick defeated DFLer Stu Lourey.  With the  exception of one story by Channel 5's Tom Hauser, few appreciate what happened, and even then  Hauser underestimated its significance.
Senate District 11 was a solidly DFL seat for eons, held by Becky Lourey and then her son Tony Lourey.  It was part of the coalition of Senate seats at or near the Iron Range that historically help anchor the DFL majority statewide.  With prior to Tony Lourey’s departure to head Health and Human Services in the Walz administration, the MN Senate was split 34-33, with Republican majority.    Governor Walz, the DFL House majority, and Tom Baak dreamed of picking off at least one Republican Senator to move their agenda.  More specifically, the DFL message to Republicans, especially in the suburbs, was that if you do not support our proposals, especially our top-ten bills, you will be vulnerable and we are coming after you in 2020.  That logic ended on Tuesday.
First, in losing the seat, the DFL goes from 33-34 to 32-35.  Picking off two Republicans is harder than one.  It was already going to be difficult to pick up one Republican vote–the GOP had strong ideological reasons to oppose the Walz-DFL agenda.  Why should they support it and give the Democrats victories?  The DFL promulgation of their top ten bills gave the Republicans their list of the top ten things to oppose.  Frustrate the DFL in their core agenda and then run in 2020 against it.
Second, losing this seat takes away the Democratic threat of 2020.  How so?  If Democrats planned to say to suburban Republican senators vote for our bills or else in 2020, Republicans can now say that we are coming after rural, Iron Range, or greater Minnesota Democrats in 2020.
Third, in losing a solidly DFL seat, it continues a nationwide pattern too seen in Minnesota where there is a big political sort going on.  Greater Minnesota and the Iron Range are becoming more Republican, including perhaps permanently shifting the Eighth Congressional District into the  GOP camp.
Finally, all of this questions the wisdom of Walz picking Tony Lourey for HHS and the DFL thinking a third generation of Lourey’s would do the trick.  Minnesota DFL politics has been dynastic for generations–think of the names Humphrey, Mondale, Freeman, and Klobuchar.  Times change and running on familial connections does not always cut it.
The special election loss portends a near fatal blow to the Democrats successfully get much of anything they want this session, and the 2020 electoral threat has been significantly undermined.  It is too early to say deadlock in the 2019 Legislative session or government shutdown, but it is not premature to declare that the Walz-DFL agenda died last Tuesday.