All elections are, apparently, now fought on social media. After 2016, it would be presumptive for political pundits to confidently predict who will fare best in that anarchic environment. I shall, therefore, just leave last night’s exchange between two 2020 candidates here for you to decide.
Well, it happened again. Amy Klobuchar announced that she is running for President, talking proudly of fighting global warming while standing in a virtual blizzard of snow, ice and freezing temperatures. Bad timing. By the end of her speech she looked like a Snowman(woman)!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 10, 2019
Science is on my side, @realDonaldTrump. Looking forward to debating you about climate change (and many other issues). And I wonder how your hair would fare in a blizzard? ☃️
Everyone else can join my team and contribute at https://t.co/Hz91NGE8hB https://t.co/Xjjz9I2Fw7
— Amy Klobuchar (@amyklobuchar) February 10, 2019
Last week, Klobuchar became the fifth Democrat woman to enter the race – all of whom are trading below 100-1 on Betfair. The Minnesota Senator is one to take very seriously.
Minnesota moderate is rising fast
Now she has confirmed – it wasn’t certain – I rate Klobuchar second only to the prohibitively priced Kamala Harris. 24.0 represents an excellent value trade to keep going forward – the best on the market. Here’s why.
Regular readers will know that I don’t think Trump will even be the Republican candidate and if he were, nearly all the 57% who say now they definitely won’t vote for Trump will back whoever the Democrats put up. Some, nevertheless, would fare better than others. Lest we forget, they chose a damaged figure with her own negative approval ratings in 2016.
In the absence of Hillary, Trump would ideally prefer a radical opponent that energises his base. One that he could portray as soft on immigration and crime. A socialist he could brand as economically inept and liken to Venezuela, which will remain newsworthy. Someone from New York or California who struggles in the decisive swing states, or alienates the white suburban women that flipped on a vast scale in the mid-terms.
Trump should fear a pragmatic, midwest woman
Klobuchar is none of those things. In fact her greatest weakness regarding the primaries will be her lack of radicalism. She is the antithesis of Trump. A stable, ordinary former prosecutor, labelled ‘Minnesota Nice’. It works. In being re-elected for a third Senate term last November, she won 43 Trump-voting counties in one of the best Democrat results among a historic wave.