“Yes, I can be tough, and yes I can push people,” Klobuchar told reporters following her rally at Minneapolis’ Boom Island Park. “I have high expectations for myself, I have high expectations for the people that work for me, but I have high expectations for this country.”
She added: “In the end, there are so many great stories of our staff that have been with me for years.”
Accounts from several of her former employees that surfaced in recent days describe a long history of Klobuchar constantly berating her staff and creating a hostile work environment. At least three people have withdrawn from consideration to lead her 2020 campaign, in part because of her behavior as a boss, HuffPost reported on Wednesday.
In interviews with HuffPost and BuzzFeed, former staffers said Klobuchar regularly chastised and shouted at her employees over minor errors, berated them in late-night emails and sometimes threw objects, leaving some workers often in tears. Others said she would task them with her personal errands, such as washing dishes at her home, which violates Senate ethics rules.
Klobuchar’s mistreatment of staff caused then-Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to privately reprimand her in 2015, HuffPost reported, citing multiple sources.
Reid does not recall if this encounter occurred, a spokesperson said. Now retired, Reid described Klobuchar as “one of the most brilliant, hardest-working members of the Senate.”
An outspoken critic of President Donald Trump’s administration, Klobuchar made national headlines last year with her tough questioning of then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh during his Senate confirmation hearing. She has maintained high approval ratings in her home state, where she is known for being warm and personable, and she easily won a third term in November.
She joins an already crowded field seeking the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination that includes several women ― Sens. Kamala Harris (Calif.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii).
The rumor around here is that working for her is hell.Bruce Olson, Minneapolis resident
Klobuchar’s supporters and some of her former staff members believe much of the criticism of the lawmaker’s managerial style stems from sexism.
“Female politicians get treated very differently than male politicians in matters like this,” said Tom Reimann, 26, who attended Sunday’s rally with his fiancée. “If men are seen as aggressive, and kind of domineering, it’s seen as a positive trait, like they’re just trying to get things done. When women do the same thing, there are a number of negative stereotypes.”
Still, Klobuchar has been plagued by one of the highest staff turnover rates in the Senate. When she first ran for the Senate in 2006, her aides wrote a memo outlining duties for the staffer in charge of her personal needs and logistics. “... DON’T interupt [sic] her unless ABSOLUTELY necessary and be careful when trying to calm her down,” it warned.
During her 2006 campaign, Klobuchar was serving as the Hennepin County attorney, and the president of the union representing many of her employees claimed she had “created a hostile work environment” and “severely damaged the morale of the office.” At the time, Klobuchar and her staff said that characterization was part of a broader backlash over salary negotiations.
The surfacing of more details of Klobuchar’s employee mistreatment raises questions about how it will affect her ability to campaign with the “Minnesota nice” reputation she has long enjoyed.
“I’ve known about [Klobuchar’s mistreatment of staff] for quite some time,” said 69-year-old Bruce Olson, a longtime Minneapolis resident who attended the rally. “The rumor around here is that working for her is hell.”
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Suggest a correction MORE:Politics And GovernmentUnited States Senate2020 ElectionAmy KlobucharHostile Work EnvironmentKlobuchar on Staff Abuse Claims: 'Yes, I Can Be Tough'
After the announcement of her intentions to run for president on Sunday, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) responded to a question about reports she has been abusive towards former staff members.
The 2020 Democratic presidential candidate did not deny she has been “tough” on her staffers, brushing it off as having “high expectations” for those that work for her and for the United States.
“[Y]es, I can be tough and push people, I know that. … And I have, I’d say, high expectations for myself, I have high expectations for people that work for me, but I have high expectations for this country,” Klobuchar told MSNBC.
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Amy Klobuchar Launches 2020 Presidential Bid: Minnesota Mean, or Minnesota Nice?
Comes across as more likable than many other Dem candidates, in contrast to reports she’s a “Mean,” “Bad Boss”Over the past several days, there has been a flurry of news “reports” about Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) being a “mean boss” and a “bad boss.” In sharp contrast to these accusations, Klobuchar’s 2020 presidential campaign announcement shows her to be immensely likable. She has that genuine “it” quality that stands in sharp contrast to Elizabeth’s Warren’s Saturday launch.
Having just seen the Warren launch, I had to smile as Klobuchar begins her speech by thanking, rather pointedly I thought, Minnesota Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan and noting that Flanagan is “the highest ranking Native American state official in our nation.” A few minutes later, she mentions that the Mississippi river, the central theme of her speech, is Native American for “the father of waters,” a reference totally irrelevant to her speech.
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In all honesty, this is the first time I have listened to Klobuchar give a speech, and I wasn’t expecting to find her so personable, so yes, I’ll say it again, likable. It was a pleasant surprise, and I think the contrast between her and the triumvirate of angry Democrats (i.e. Warren, Kamala Harris, Cory Booker) stands her in good stead.
Watch:
Having been reading for days about what a horrible human being she is, I was genuinely surprised to find Klobuchar so likable. It’s not hard to imagine that the oppo research dump came from one (or more) of her 2020 Democrat competitors trying to get a head start on undermining her genuine charm and appeal.
Here are just a few of the stories that have been running across leftstream media:
Amy Klobuchar: Bad Boss? – BloombergDoes it matter if Amy Klobuchar is a mean boss? – WapoSenator Klobuchar’s Staff Mistreatment Reportedly Goes Back a Decade, Includes Throwing Binders – The IntelligencerStaffers, Documents Show Amy Klobuchar’s Wrath Toward Her Aides – BuzzfeedKlobuchar’s opening pitch sidetracked by staff horror stories – PoliticoSen. Amy Klobuchar’s Mistreatment Of Staff Scared Off Candidates To Manage Her Presidential Bid – HuffPoGiven how well she comes across, it’s not that surprising that the opening salvo against her targets her likability.
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She posits herself as someone who can unite the country, and it’s not hard to see why she thinks so.
Fox News reports:
Klobuchar, a moderate, Midwestern Democrat who has served in the Senate since 2007, highlighted in speech her ability to work across the aisle with Republicans and her “grit” as Democrats try to win back voters in a region that supported then-candidate Donald Trump in the 2016 race.
“We worked across the aisle to get the federal funding and we rebuilt that I-35W bridge — in just over a year,” Klobuchar said in her speech with the Interstate 35 bridge over the Mississippi River as her backdrop. “That’s community. That’s a shared story. That’s ordinary people doing extraordinary things,” she said in her prepared remarks.
She added: “But that sense of community is fracturing across our nation right now, worn down by the petty and vicious nature of our politics. We are all tired of the shutdowns and the putdowns, of the gridlock and the grandstanding. Today on this snowy island, we say enough is enough. Our nation must be governed not from chaos but from opportunity. Not by wallowing over what’s wrong, but my marching inexorably toward what’s right.”
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While it’s easy to see why she is considered a “moderate Democrat” in light of the absolutely loony Green New Deal embraced by many of her Democrat 2020 opponents, Klobuchar’s remarks reflect a pro-amnesty, pro-universal healthcare, pro-gun control, pro-net neutrality, pro-crippling regulations in the name of “climate change” stance that sounds pretty radical to my ears.
That said, she’s going to be a formidable opponent for her socialist/communist/progressive opponents.
Nate Silver over at FiveThirtyEight has written an interesting analysis based in no small part on her likability and appeal to voters in “flyover” country.
Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar announced her candidacy for president at a rally in Minneapolis on Sunday, becoming the fifth Democratic senator1 to launch a campaign. In contrast to some of the big names — Kamala Harris, Cory Booker, Elizabeth Warren — who had been expected to run for president for years, Klobuchar is a little bit more of a homespun, independent-label candidate.
But being on an indie label has its upsides and downsides. On the one hand, there’s perceived authenticity and the ability to build momentum from modest expectations. On the other hand, there’s the question of whether your product can get into the hands of consumers without having major-label marketing muscle behind it — and, if so, whether it can expand beyond a niche audience.
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Silver lists four potential advantages for Klobuchar (electability; Potential strength in Iowa, and in the debates; the beer track [aka “‘flyover-state’ moderates”] … without the baggage?; and a reasonably clear contrast to Trump.) and two potential problems (Lack of a clear path with nonwhite voters and staffing a campaign and building support among insiders.).
On her potential strengths, Silver concludes:
Overall, this is an impressive list of strengths, even if some of them are quite hedged. They’re why Klobuchar has a considerably better chance of winning the nomination than you might guess given her relatively low profile.
Trump Trolls Dem Sen. Klobuchar For Announcing 2020 Presidential Run – Focused on Global Warming in Middle of Heavy Blizzard
Amy Klobuchar
Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) announced her 2020 presidential bid on Sunday outside in the middle of a Minnesota blizzard.The Senator from Minnesota is the latest Democrat to throw her hat in the ring for 2020.
Klobuchar gave a speech outside in Minneapolis on Sunday in freezing temperatures and heavy snowfall promising to immediately address climate change if elected President of the United States.
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“In the first 100 days of my administration, I will reinstate the clean power rules and the gas mileage standards and put forth sweeping legislation to invest in green jobs and infrastructure,” Klobuchar said as snow coated her hair. “And on day one, we will rejoin the international climate agreement!”
By the end of the speech, where Klobuchar promised she would fight global warming, she looked like a snowwoman.
WATCH:
"The people are on our side when it comes to climate change."
Sen. Amy Klobuchar launches 2020 run for president. https://t.co/cQRDGmqAUhpic.twitter.com/kIyPLFhJBh
— The Hill (@thehill) February 10, 2019
President Trump wasted no time and immediately mocked Senator Klobucahr for giving a global warming speech in the middle of a wicked blizzard.
TRUMP: 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)!
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This article was sourced from The Gateway Pundit
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