Klobuchar to announce she's raised big $$$ for Senate run

[jean]

according to Sam and Sylvia Kaplan, who were guests on the Wendy Wilde show this morning. They said Klobuchar will make an announcement today or tomorrow - that she has raised a ton of money "it will knock the socks off Minnesotans."

The Kaplans, major MN DFL contributors, said they're supporting Klobuchar for Senate and RT Rybak for re-election. They did not comment on who the Dems should run against Pawlenty.

Here's some info on Klobuchar from MPR:
http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/special/2006/campaign/senate/klobuchar/

Born: 1960.
Raised in Plymouth, Minn.

Personal:
Married (John), one daughter - Abigail

Occupation:
Hennepin County Attorney. Klobuchar was a partner with the Minneapolis law firm of Gray Plant Mooty. Earlier, she was a partner with the Minneapolis law firm of Dorsey & Whitney.

Education:
Graduated magna cum laude Yale University and the University of Chicago Law School, where she was associate editor of the Law Review.

Major political experience:
Elected to her position in 1998.

[dpbrown]

1. I think Wetterling makes a good candidate against Screech

Although Klobuchar obviously would make a good Senator.

DPB

[KitchenWitch]

6. Screech - HAHAHAHA

You are right...Kennedy IS Screech!

Not looking forward to the "Five generations of Kennedys" ads. Just how long IS a generation, wouldn't the first generation (if 5 generations were of voting age) be around 120 years old?

[saltpoint]

2. Do any Minnesota DUers know if Klobuchar can win?

It would be great to hold that seat for the Democrats.

[akagikamik]

3. Amy put up the numbers

$580,000 in seven weeks since Dayton announced is impressive. Now all she needs is a message beyond "I'm a County Prosecutor" and enough maturity and humility to listen to the people around her.

[saltpoint]

4. Thanks for that info, akagikamik. I hope it is a seat --

-- that stays in our column. I hope the DFL up there can give a strong push and support the nominee. I'm sure the GOP candidate (Kennedy?) will be well-funded.

Go, Democrats.

[KitchenWitch]

5. She is a rainmaker!

Welcome to DU!

[Demrock6]

7. MPR announced a few numbers

Kennedy got $500,000 or so. Patty Wetterling raised $350,000.

Now take note, instead of holding talks in District 6, when House was not in session, he went fund raising. Patty has not pushed to hard yet.

[akagikamik]

8. June 30 will loom large for the Dem women

Patty better get moving or she'll be eating Amy's dust.

[CatholicEdHead]

9. That will come back to bite him

in the future. You cannot ignore your district for the next year and a half. He still has duties right now.

Klobochar is still keeping up her lawyer duties and Wetterling is not serving, so she is off the hook.

[akagikamik]

10. Careful now, political jujitsu is easy

Wetterling's only recent job is playing Ishmael to Kennedy's Moby Dick and word is that Klobuchar's office has become incredibly politicized in a way that would make Mike Hatch blush.

[ISUGRADIA]

16. Wow only your third post and you've managed to attack

Wetterling, Klobuchar and Mike Hatch. Interesting.

[akagikamik]

17. All in one sentence, too.

Shouldn't we make sure our nominees are battle-hardened for Fall 2006? A contested Senate nominating race is a good thing. While our candidates will be high-profile and fight-ready, Mr. Kennedy will be both starved for attention and flabby from a year of inaction.

[jean]

11. I've had three phone calls and one mailing from Patty in the past 2 mon

[VoxMN]

12. Shameless plug

I have some commentary on the numbers released over at my blog but I need people to read said commentary... So I came to you guys. Post some comments if you take a look.

<a href="http://mnpublius.blogspot.com/">MN Publius</a>

[northernsoul]

13. spot on, VoxMN

welcome to DU, by the way.

There are some polls showing Wetterling as having higher favorable ratings statewide vs. Kennedy and others, but I think that Klobuchar has similar assets once she can get greater state-wide attention, i.e.:

1) Major fund-raising mojo: Klobuchar appears to have strong connections with many of the major DFL contributors (Kaplans, et. al), as well as to the "white shoe" Minneapolis legal community (she was at two major downtown firms before becoming a county atty., and I can attest that she will probably get decent $$$ from the local trial lawyers as well).
2) Law and Order Credentials: As Hennepin County Attorney, she's had good public visibility spearheading several major criminal prosecutions. Additionally, she's made some good additions to the office by adding things like an "Elder Protection Squad" and the like. I think she can take this recurring Dem weak spot off the table. However, I don't know if she can John Walsh of America's Most Wanted to do TV spots for her like he did for Wetterling.
3) Appeal to Suburban Moderates: I don't have empirical data on this, but I've heard credible scuttlebutt that Klobuchar's ratings in the traditionally GOP western suburbs is outstanding. I think this would translate well to appealling to similar demographics statewide. With the MN GOP bound and determined to make certififed lunatics like Michelle Bachman the new face of their party, I think many suburban moderates who might've voted for the likes of Coleman but who are turned off by the theocratic tendencies of Bachmann et al., will find Klobuchar to be a tolerable alternative.
4) Legitimate Family Connections to the Iron Range: IIRC, Amy's dad grew up on the Range before coming down to the cities to write his column.
5) Religious Cred: By all accounts, Klobuchar has been sincere and genuine about her Christian faith - before it was trendy.

[jean]

14. Western suburb trivia: I think she's a Wayzata HS grad

[katinmn]

15. #4 Klobuchar's father, the former Strib columnist,

grew up in Ely (my hometown).

They're proud of him up there and the name is recognized among long-term Rangers. The name was pronounced way different though: klo*butch'*er, instead of Klo'*bush*ar. :)