Trump impeachment could sideline Klobuchar

The trial of President Donald Trump could come just as presidential candidates will look to make final pitches in Iowa.

January 11, 2020 at 10:19PM
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., meets with reporters following escalation of tensions this week between the U.S. and Iran, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2020, on Capitol Hill in Washington.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., in Washington earlier in the week. (Associated Press/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's decision to send articles of impeachment to the Senate ends her long standoff with Senate Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, clearing the way for a Senate trial. But it couldn't come at a worse time for Minnesota U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, one of four senators contending for the Democratic presidential nomination.

The trial of President Donald Trump, which Senate Republicans might be eager to put behind them, could come in the next few weeks. That's just as the Democratic candidates are making their final pitches to voters in Iowa, where the first-in-the-nation caucuses take place on Feb. 3.

Sidelined from the campaign trail for an undetermined amount of time would be Klobuchar plus Sens. Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker, who is lagging in the polls but still looks and acts like he's in the race.

The timing is doubly bad for Klobuchar, who has been experiencing a wave of momentum since strong debate performances in November and December.

Despite some recent gains in the polls and the money chase, Klobuchar still has a lot of ground to make up to stay competitive with the race's top tier of Warren, Sanders, former Vice President Joe Biden and former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg.

And Iowa clearly is her most favorable ground.

about the writer

about the writer

Kevin Diaz

Reporter

Kevin Diaz is politics editor at the Star Tribune.

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