Now imagine that Trump’s vote isn’t a given. There’s clearly a segment of the electorate who are reluctant Trump voters. They aren’t going to vote for a Democrat, but they might stay home rather than give Trump four more years — provided they aren’t too worried about who the Democratic president would be. Who are these voters? Perhaps they are single white women without college degrees who thought Hillary Clinton looked down on them. Perhaps they are Chamber of Commerce types who enthusiastically supported Romney. They may well live in states like Iowa, Maine, and North Carolina where Trump’s approval rating is under water in spite of the inroads he made in 2016 — and which are crucial to the Democrats’ Senate hopes in 2020. Which nominee is best positioned to convince those voters to stay home, and thereby not only defeat Trump but deprive him of Senate coattails?
That’s the case for Klobuchar from a progressive perspective. It’s not just a question of who would more aggressively push a progressive agenda as president, or even which nominee would be more likely to win the presidency in the first place. Without the Senate, even a President Sanders would have a hard time passing most of his agenda. And the Democrats are unlikely to take the Senate simply by running up their own vote. They need to depress the other side — and do it in states where Trump will be competitive or even favored to win.
While turning to a moderate would seem to be a sign of fear, in a sense a Klobuchar nomination would be an expression of confidence.
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