The Klobmentum Went Hurtling Off a Cliff

Amy Klobuchar has ended her presidential campaign and will endorse Joe Biden. The news comes one day after Pete Buttigieg’s exit from the presidential primary and on the eve of Super Tuesday when 1,357 delegates from 14 states are up for grabs.

Klobuchar attempted to appeal to moderate Democrats who weren’t looking for massive structural overhauls to the healthcare or education system, but instead wanted modest improvements with a less galling pricetag. But Klobuchar’s middle-of-the-road message—of Pell grants and building on Obamacare—didn’t gain a captive audience. Despite receiving a slight bump in polls following an impressive debate performance in February and nabbing a third-place finish in New Hampshire behind Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg, her momentum was shortlived. This was further hampered by an Associated Press report about Myon Burrell, a 33-year-old black man who was sentenced to life in prison as a teen for the murder of a young girl, but whose conviction relied on weak evidence and possible police coercion; this occurred during Klobuchar’s tenure as the County Attorney of Hennepin County, Minnesota. Protesters called out Klobuchar’s poor handling of the Burrell case at one of her rallies Sunday; Klobuchar eventually canceled the event.

(Klobuchar was, somehow, less impacted by the numerous accusations from former staffers that she harbors a toxic and sometimes violent work environment).

By endorsing Biden, Klobuchar is attempting to shift her supporters ahead of Super Tuesday with the hopes of improving his delegate count against progressive frontrunner Bernie Sanders. As of Monday afternoon, Buttigieg also plans to back Biden. Elizabeth Warren will likely receive pressure to follow their lead, bow out, and make an endorsement before the big day, but her campaign has not shown any indication that they will back down from their goal to take the race all the way to the convention. Guess we’ll never find out whether Klobuchar could bring out the midwest, in search of a comforting middle-of-the-road vision of democracy and some hotdish.