AMES, Iowa – Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar is calling for women in politics to rise up and “resist” and “insist.”
Addressing a crowd of over 800 at the Iowa State University Center for Women and Politics, Klobuchar called for women in politics to persistently “resist” and “insist on a better way forward.”
“I like to remind so many of my friends, some of which are marching and some of which are in watching TV and putting the blanket over their heads [that] yes, we resist, but we also insist on a better way forward for our country,” Klobuchar said, according to audio obtained by Radio Iowa. “And that includes Democrats and Republicans.”
Using many gender-based anecdotes from her time in the U.S. Senate, Klobuchar, who was first elected to the Senate in 2006, called on women to “look out for each other” and “encourage each other to run for office.” Rather than focusing on the lack of women in office today, Klobuchar urged the audience to make the case for electing more women by highlighting the impact women leaders have made.
“People don’t want to just hear — I know this from my election — ‘Oh, we need a woman. Oh, we haven’t had a woman. Oh, we need a woman,’” Klobuchar said. “I think we need to talk about the impact that the women who are in leadership in whatever job they do have made and make that case in a very different way.”
In recent months, Klobuchar’s name has been thrown around as a potential 2020 candidate for President of the United States. Klobuchar has fueled the rumors by making several appearances in key presidential primary states, including Iowa. However, while Klobuchar is a household name in Minnesota and Iowa, she faces the challenge of being virtually unknown in the remaining 48 states.
Iowa State Rep. Mary Mascher, who attended Klobuchar’s speech at Iowa State University, told Radio Iowa that Klobuchar has presidential potential.
“There’s some star quality there,” Mascher told Radio Iowa. “I just think she resonates well with people and has such a great message.”
Klobuchar has yet to directly respond to any of the speculation, instead claiming she is focused on winning re-election in 2018.
