'Minnesota tough with real world skills: Why Amy Klobuchar has my vote and should get yours.

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Lunch with Klobuchar at the Capitol was a master class. She didn’t confront passing senators, she courted them by listening and talking principles.

Andy Slavitt Opinion columnist

When I pulled up to Amy Klobuchar’s house a couple of years ago in a working-class neighborhood in an unglamorous part of Minneapolis, the first thing I thought was that I must have the wrong house. Small patch of lawn, lots of traffic, squeezed in next to her neighbors — this is not what you picture for a U.S. senator.

The second thing I noticed was that her weekend party wasn’t filled with famous people and socialites. There were people walking over from next door and down the block, lots of hugs and laughter. There were friends from the neighborhood, friends from law school, lots of friends and former-staff from her time as the Hennepin County attorney, parents of her daughter’s friends, and longtime friends of her husband John. We had moved to Minnesota much more recently, but she made us feel like welcome friends.

Seeing her at home was an interesting contrast from a year or two earlier when we had lunch in the Senate dining room. I had just gotten to Washington to work on health care in the Obama administration, and although I knew other senators, Amy was the only one to send me such an invitation.

Courting, not confrontation

While we ate, as senators from both parties walked past us, Amy would lean over and tell me about bills they were working on, their areas of focus, their political concerns and, frequently, her goal of recruiting that senator as a co-sponsor or supporter on something she wanted to pass. On several occasions, she would flag the down a senator, introduce me, have me spend a minute on what I was doing in the Obama administration, and then gracefully move to discuss their commonality in co-sponsoring a piece of legislation.

I was amazed at her depth on such a range of topics and how much homework she had clearly done on each of the issues she was discussing. And I noticed that she didn’t confront, she courted. And she didn’t court, like many do, by using flattery or persuasion; she courted by listening, talking principles, and agreeing to find a next step. It was a master class in charm and diplomacy, one that had required painstaking homework.'>>>

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2020/02/28/super-tuesday-amy-klobuchar-minnesota-tough-smart-practical-column/4882067002/?