Minnesotans' fascination with Sen. Amy Klobuchar as a possible running mate for presumed Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden comes with a dollop of vice presidential history.
In politics as in sports, Minnesota has long history being runner-up
By Star Tribune
April 18, 2020 at 9:30PM
The state has produced two vice presidents: Hubert H. Humphrey, who served under President Lyndon Johnson, and Walter Mondale, who served under President Jimmy Carter. Both ran for president. Both lost, Mondale by a landslide.
It's a record of frustration that rivals the Minnesota Vikings' four Super Bowl losses — perennial runners-up.
Former Gov. Tim Pawlenty is the most recent Minnesota aspirant to the No. 2 position, but he lost out to then-Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who was later described as the late Sen. John McCain's "Hail Mary" pass to overtake an Illinois U.S. senator named Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election.
Klobuchar, like Pawlenty, is seen by pundits as the "safe" choice, if not the most exciting.
Pawlenty, at least, got a good story out of it. After getting the bad news from McCain, he said he took a walk with the family dog, cleaning up after she answered the call of nature. "As I put the little bag over my hand and bent down to pick up her poop," Pawlenty recounted, "I thought to myself, 'Well, this is the only No. 2 I'll be picking up today.'"
KEVIN DIAZ
about the writer
Star Tribune
The lifelong northeast Minneapolis resident led a one-vote majority through the landmark 2023 session.
