Last week, Pete Buttigieg, the 38-year-old, gay, former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, shocked the nation when he won the Iowa caucus. Just this Tuesday, democratic-socialist candidate for president, Senator Bernie Sanders, won the second primary of this election cycle – New Hampshire.
Although Sanders won, many of the headlines surrounding the New Hampshire primary have focused on moderate candidate, Senator Amy Klobuchar, emerging as the third runner up even though she hasn’t stood out substantially in national polls.
Klobuchar, a former lawyer who has served in the United States Senate since 2006, has stayed relatively in the middle of the pack in terms of polling numbers for the last few months, and although she’s had a few memorable (viral) moments in debates, she hasn’t made much noise.
All of a sudden, she’s emerged as a contender, and while it’s impressive that another woman besides Senator Elizabeth Warren is starting to make waves, we at The Setonian can’t help but wonder: why are we talking about Amy Klobuchar?
For that matter, why are we talking about any moderate candidates? Hear us out: we’re not saying that we shouldn’t be considering a moderate for president; in fact, a moderate president may be the only way to beat President Trump in November. We’re saying, why is Amy Klobuchar making headlines? Why is that the story?
Sanders is a socialist, for goodness' sake. A socialist just won the second primary in a race for president of the United States. And yeah, Buttigieg won the election technically, but Sanders won the popular vote. This is a big deal.
A socialist making this much of a wave is big. It’s indicative of a change that a significant population of the United States is looking for. It’s certainly bigger than Amy Klobuchar.
The Voice is intended to best represent the collective opinion of The Editorial Board. It is written by The Setonian’s Editor-in-Chief.
