In chill of New Hampshire, signs Klobuchar is warming
| Salem and Manchester, N.H.
鈥淢y plan,鈥� vows Sen. Amy Klobuchar, putting on her best Trumpian air, 鈥渋s to build a beauuuuuuuutiful blue wall 鈥� and make Donald Trump pay for it!鈥�
That wall, she tells the cheering crowd in Salem, New Hampshire, will be made up of Democrats, independents, even moderate Republicans. Together, they will prevent President Trump from sweeping key battleground states 鈥撀燼 category she extends to New Hampshire. And indeed, there are plenty of swing voters here, a state where Hillary Clinton won by fewer than 2,800 ballots.聽
鈥淎my speaks to my sensibilities more than anybody,鈥� says David Liddy, a lifelong Republican and retired naval officer who changed his party affiliation to vote in Tuesday鈥檚 primary, though he retains conservative views. 鈥淪he seems to be very dedicated, very hardworking.鈥�
Why We Wrote This
What does a surge by the senator from Minnesota tell us about the New Hampshire electorate? It suggests a desire for Midwestern values, pragmatism, and yes, a sense of humor.
As the granddaughter of an iron ore miner who has consistently won over Minnesota鈥檚 rural voters 鈥撀爄ncluding in 2018, when she emerged victorious in 42 counties that had gone for Mr. Trump two years earlier 鈥� Senator Klobuchar came down the homestretch in New Hampshire with arms wide open for the state鈥檚 independents and disaffected Republicans like Mr. Liddy.
Until Friday, there was little evidence that she was getting much traction. Now, after a strong debate performance, she鈥檚 the buzziest candidate. And at the 11th hour, she seems to have wriggled out of her stiff senatorial shell and is showing audiences a warm, even funny side.
As other Democrats sound increasingly Eeyorish, Senator Klobuchar is buoyant, cracking jokes about the president鈥檚 complaint that his cameo was cut from Home Alone II (鈥淲ho does that?鈥�) and alluding to his cancellation of a Denmark trip after the prime minister rebuffed his interest in buying Greenland.
It seems to be working. Multiple polls showed her in third place in New Hampshire, edging ahead of Sen. Elizabeth Warren and former Vice President Joe Biden. At Klobuchar rallies over the weekend, attendance far exceeded the expectations of her campaign. In Manchester Saturday, staffers had to ask attendees to stand so their chairs could be removed to make room for more people.聽
Democrats are split over whether they want a progressive champion who will push for sweeping change, or a centrist figure who can right the ship. They鈥檙e also uncertain about whether the best way to beat Mr. Trump is with a candidate who excites the base or one who could woo back white working-class Midwesterners.
The 鈥淜lomentum鈥� is clearly driven by voters who subscribe to the latter theory, some of whom have been casting around for another option after Mr. Biden finished a disappointing fourth in Iowa despite leading in national polls for much of the past year.
鈥淵ou have Trump skating through the impeachment, his big State of the Union speech 鈥� and I think Democrats are saying, 鈥楬ow do we beat this guy?鈥欌�� says Andrew Smith, director of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center in Durham.聽Pete Buttigieg is seen as too young and inexperienced, he says. Bernie Sanders, they worry, will get hammered as a socialist. And Joe Biden is flaming out. 鈥淧eople are saying, 鈥榃hat鈥檚 left?鈥欌�� says Dr. Smith. 鈥淎nd she鈥檚 left.鈥�
A scrappy campaign
Like most pundits and pollsters, Dr. Smith didn鈥檛 see her placing better than third in New Hampshire, despite the fact that聽independents 鈥� who comprise 40% of registered voters here 鈥� could vote in the Democratic primary.聽Rather than becoming the nominee, the thinking goes, she may just seriously hurt both Ms. Warren and Mr. Biden, further splintering the Democratic field. Then again, few expected her to get this far when she announced her candidacy a year ago in Minneapolis, standing on the banks of the Mississippi in the middle of a snowstorm, arguing she was the one with the necessary grit to beat Donald Trump and bridge 鈥渢he river of our divides.鈥�
鈥淭he thing that is critical to me is healing the country,鈥� says former Democratic state Rep. Sally Kelly of Chichester, New Hampshire. 鈥淚 think she鈥檚 a healer.鈥�
Those who have known her for decades say that is born out of experience, including loving her father throughout his battle with alcoholism.
鈥淚 think there鈥檚 a lot of forgiveness and empathy in her ability to do that,鈥� says longtime friend Kate Herrmann Stacy, who was a bridesmaid in Ms. Klobuchar鈥檚 wedding. 鈥淲hen we were in law school, I would react quickly and conclude, 鈥極h, that person is such a jerk.鈥� She was kinder and more forgiving and would have a better sense of why they might be acting that way.鈥�
Despite gaining a reported $4 million in donations since Friday鈥檚 debate, Senator Klobuchar may not be well-positioned to capitalize on a strong showing in New Hampshire when the race moves on to the larger states of Nevada and South Carolina.聽She has raised barely a quarter as much as Senator Sanders 鈥� $28.7 million compared with his $107.9 million 鈥� and less than half of the three other front-runners. She doesn鈥檛 even make it into the聽聽in terms of Democratic campaign spending so far.
In New Hampshire, Senators Sanders and Warren already had around 75 staffers on the ground when the Klobuchar campaign hired its third staffer last spring. Thanks to the endorsements of three state newspapers, including the traditionally conservative Union Leader, and talking with thousands of voters at Rotary clubs or local restaurants over plates of poutine, she managed to stay alive even as other, flashier candidates dropped out.
鈥淭hink of what she has accomplished, to be where she is in this campaign with the resources she has,鈥� says Michael Atkins, a Peterborough lawyer who was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 2008 and 2004. An early endorser of Senator Klobuchar, he says 90% of people he talks with after her rallies walk away sold.聽
鈥淲e鈥檝e run a scrappy campaign,鈥� says Karen Cornelius, a New Hampshire retiree who has been volunteering full time for the past year to help her former law school classmate get elected.聽
鈥業 know you鈥�
One silver lining to her relative lack of campaign resources is that it reinforces her image as fiscally responsible.
She routinely pulls up to election rallies in nondescript rental cars 鈥� not the big SUVs with tinted windows favored by some other candidates. After one of her first TV appearances, her friend Ms. Stacy texted to compliment her on the teal jacket she was wearing.聽I got it on sale! $29.95, Ms. Klobuchar wrote back.
On Monday, as her modest campaign was enjoying its biggest moment yet in the media spotlight, that was the jacket she chose to wear.
鈥淪he鈥檚 low-key, she鈥檚 not flashy at all,鈥� says Richard Leland, a California Republican waiting in line for a Biden event with five fellow Republicans, all of whom say the Republican Party has turned its back on fiscal conservatism. All say they鈥檇 vote for Senator Klobuchar 鈥渋n a heartbeat鈥� over President Trump.
Last week, the head of the Concord Coalition, a nonpartisan organization calling for fiscal responsibility,聽聽Senator Klobuchar as the only presidential candidate 鈥渨ith an express goal of lowering the debt-to-GDP ratio.鈥� At a time when other Democrats are proposing massive increases in government spending, her聽聽calls for establishing a $300 billion fund, seeded with an increase in the corporate tax rate, 鈥渢o make a down payment to tackle the U.S. debt and protect our economy鈥� 鈥� and help reduce the annual budget deficit, currently projected to exceed $1 trillion.
鈥淚f she sticks with that, she鈥檒l get a lot of Trump supporters,鈥� says David Marti, a Trump voter whose son brought him to see Senator Klobuchar this weekend in hopes of persuading his dad to vote for a Democrat.聽
When Senator Klobuchar arrived in New Hampshire at 4 a.m. last week with the Iowa caucus results still unclear, Ms. Cornelius heard a new line in her stump speech.
The senator, who has been reading historian Doris Kearns Goodwin鈥檚 book on presidential leadership, related a story from the days following President Franklin D. Roosevelt鈥檚 death. As the train carrying his body caused a man watching to break into tears, a reporter asked,聽Sir, did you know the president?
No,聽the man replied. But he knew me.
Senator Klobuchar has lately adapted that line, presenting an image for voters that is far different than one created by a series of negative articles last spring criticizing her exigent approach as a boss.
鈥淚f you have trouble stretching your paycheck to pay for that rent, I know you, and I will fight for you,鈥� she said in her closing remarks at the debate. 鈥淚鈥檓 asking you to believe that someone who totally believes in America can win this, because if you are tired of the extremes in our politics and the noise and the nonsense, you have a home with me.鈥�
Staff writer Story Hinckley contributed to this report.
