Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
Klobuchar gambling on 99-county Iowa tour
Senator tries to keep pace for Feb. 3 caucus
HUMBOLDT, Iowa — To Amy Klobuchar, her just-completed tour of all 99 Iowa counties proves a point: As president, she would go everywhere and represent everyone, even in the heart of Trump country.
That’s “part of my way of being,” the Minnesota senator told Iowans at a rural restaurant in Humboldt County, the final stop of her tour and a place that, like much of the leadoff caucus state, overwhelmingly supported Donald Trump in 2016. “I believe that we need someone as president who’s going to be the president for not half of America but all of America.”
Klobuchar is hoping to capitalize on caucus rules that can reward candidates who leave Democratic-heavy areas and large rallies to meet smaller groups in less populated counties. In those places, personal connections can be made over coffee or, as happened this month, over hot chocolate and convenience store breakfast pizza aboard Klobuchar’s campaign bus.
Those connections can translate into votes on caucus night, though going everywhere is no guarantee of success. Republican Rick Santorum campaigned in all 99 counties — known as the “full Grassley” after Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley — for the 2016 election and finished close to last in the Iowa caucuses. This election, former Rep. John Delaney has done it, but he hasn’t qualified for the debate stage since the summer. It can be a grind. Klobuchar started ticking off counties days after her February campaign launch and picked up the pace in recent weeks, her days on the bus sometimes going from before sunrise to close to midnight. On Dec. 22, she covered more than 1,000 miles on a swing that took her to events in 27 counties in under four days. A few events were held on her campaign bus because no local venues were available.
The stakes are high as Klobuchar tries to catch the four top candidates — Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders — before the Feb. 3 caucuses.
Klobuchar has qualified for the Jan. 14 debate in Des Moines, where she is bound to boast about her 99-county swing and knowledge of agricultural and other issues.
She hopes her Midwestern background, years of campaigning for fellow Iowa Democrats and endorsements from local elected officials will give her a boost.
Held on a Monday night, the caucuses consist of 1,679 precinct meetings where voters must declare their preferred candidate. To have their votes counted toward delegates, a candidate must reach a viability threshold of 15 percent support in each precinct.
After the first vote, supporters of any candidate not deemed viable may move to another candidate.
“For Sen. Klobuchar the challenge is going to be making sure she’s viable,” said Chris Larimer, a political science professor at the University of Northern Iowa who researched the impact of the “full Grassley” on governor’s races. He said it can help a candidate make personal connections, but “it’s just one element to a successful caucus campaign.”
Each candidate has his or her own strategy for picking up delegates. Biden is counting on being viable in every county, in part because voters know him and his support is seen as wider across the state’s geography and population.
Warren, Sanders and Buttigieg have been drawing huge crowds, particularly in college communities and other liberal parts of the state, but their campaigns say they have a statewide infrastructure to compete elsewhere, too.