Over at MN Progressive Project, Joe Bodell has a similar reaction Kurt Bills’s endorsement as I had — it doesn’t really matter who the MNGOP nominates. He then asks an important question: Will Klobuchar play a larger role in the 2012 elections here in Minnesota than just cruising to a second term?

So what to do in the meantime? Well, there is the question of that Legislature, and Amy Klobuchar could have a lot to do with whether the DFL gets it back. Will she sit back in cruise control and rack up endorsements, money, and favors with an eye toward 2016, or will she run up the score in a serious way, running hard statewide, and be the tide that helps raise all DFL ships at all levels across the state, helping put the current form of the GOP in history’s dustbin?

I’ve been wondering the same thing. While we know that Klobuchar has to approach her campaign seriously, the fact is that she’ll have resources — both money and time — to spare. What will she choose to do with it? Will she, as Joe puts it, “sit back in cruise control?” Or will she use her political capital to help take back the legislature and defeat the marriage discrimination amendment?

Over the weekend, Kurt Bills won the MNGOP endorsement to face Amy Klobuchar in the 2012 Senate race. With Bills’s endorsement, the November match-up is now most likely set. But I’ve never seen a less dramatic race. All Bills’s endorsement really means is an answer to the question Who will be crushed by Amy Klobuchar?

Klobuchar’s approval ratings are sky-high, and she regularly polls at 55 percent against any challenger — including Tim Pawlenty and Michele Bachmann. Throw in her enormous cash advantage, and she looks practically invulnerable.

I know I shouldn’t treat Klobuchar’s victory as a foregone conclusion, and in her defense, she has signaled that she’s not taking this race for granted. Klobuchar has always been a formidable campaigner, and she’ll be working hard against Bills, so don’t take my confidence as reflecting on Klobuchar and her campaign. But let’s be honest — it would take a major, major surprise to even make this campaign competitive.

So congratulations, Rep. Bills. You get the honor of being creamed by Senator Klobuchar.

After my post yesterday asking if Amy Klobuchar would campaign against the anti-marriage amendment, I heard from a few sources (and one commenter) correcting my statement that Klobuchar hadn’t taken a public position on the amendment. In fact, she has publicly stated her opposition to the amendment. My apologies for the error.

However, while I’m glad to hear that Senator Klobuchar has indeed come out against the hateful anti-marriage amendment, my question from yesterday still stands: How much will she do to campaign against it? To be completely clear, I don’t have any inside information saying that she won’t be active — I’m simply waiting to see, and hoping that she’ll use her enormous popularity to help defeat the amendment.

This isn’t just a yes/no question — it’s a question of how much political capital Klobuchar is willing to expend to defeat the amendment. Will she help raise money for the cause? Speak against the amendment? Make opposition to the amendment a key plank in her stump speech? Include opposition to the amendment in her get-out-the-vote literature? The more she — and all of our DFL candidates — do, the better.

DFLers should be asking this same question of all of our candidates: How much can you and will you do to defeat the anti-marriage amendment? But of all our elected officials, Klobuchar is in a particularly strong position to influence the result in November. She’s enormously popular, has a statewide presence, and doesn’t face a difficult challenger for re-election. For all these reasons, she has more power than any of our other elected officials to mobilize opposition to the amendment.

Senator Klobuchar has a lot of political capital to spend. I hope she’ll choose to use it to defeat the hateful attack on caring, committed Minnesota families.

Yesterday, Barack Obama’s campaign in Minnesota announced that Obama would oppose the state’s anti-marriage amendment. Over at MN Progressive Project, The Big E writes about why that’s big news:

It’s all about bully pulpits. From the top of the ticket, to the bottom, Democrats in Minnesota will campaigning against the marriage amendment.

That’s absolutely true. Yet I can’t help but notice one voice that has been quiet on the amendment: our very popular senior Senator, Amy Klobuchar, whose support and active campaigning against the amendment would be a big help. Klobuchar has not taken a position on the amendment, and it’s not clear whether she’ll do any campaigning on behalf of marriage equality.

UPDATE: I have heard from several sources that Klobuchar has indeed taken a public position against the amendment. I apologize for the error.

Senator Klobuchar is the most popular politician in the state. She will have a very easy re-election campaign in 2012 — she only just now got a real challenger, who will start out $5 million behind on fundraising. Her support could mean all the difference in a tight campaign. I hope she’ll do what’s right and commit to fighting the hateful anti-marriage amendment.

So far, Amy Klobuchar’s opponents in the 2012 Senate race have been abysmal jokes. Most prominent among their many failings has been their complete inability to raise money. Now, it looks like the GOP finally has a candidate who can at least be taken seriously:

Republican Pete Hegseth’s U.S. Senate campaign says Hegseth raised $160,000 in the first three months of the year. The campaign said it ended the quarter with $130,000 cash-on-hand. The campaign says the fundraising totals beat expectations and notes that Hegseth had only been in the campaign for one of the quarter’s three months.

Sure, Hegseth’s war chest doesn’t look like much when compared to Klobuchar’s, which will probably be around $5 million by the end of this quarter. But at least he’s showing an ability to raise some money, unlike former Representative Dan Severson.

Unfortunately for Hegseth, his campaign is going nowhere. Klobuchar’s approval rating is above 60 percent, and she’s got a massive fundraising advantage. Without some sort of outrageous scandal, Klobuchar will sail to re-election. That’s why no top-tier Republican will take her on.

For Hegseth, though, even a loss against Klobuchar could be a great opportunity. Hegseth is not a top-tier Republican candidate, but a strong showing against Klobuchar could turn him into one. That doesn’t even mean winning — a strong stump speech and solid fundraising against Klobuchar could position him as a go-to candidate for the Republicans in 2014.

It appears that outcry around the country over SOPA, the bill that would break the internet, is making Congress take notice. Both Al Franken and Amy Klobuchar issued statements to MPR yesterday tempering their support for the bill.

Franken:

Sen. Franken has heard the concerns that many Minnesotans have voiced over the past few days about the PROTECT IP Act, and he believes we need to reach a compromise that will both keep the Internet free and open and protect American Jobs.

Klobuchar:

The Senator believes we need to address concerns being raised today and work out a compromise that balances free exchange on the Internet with stopping foreign piracy that hurts our economy.

These are admittedly weak, noncommittal statements. But at least they’re progress. Please keep calling until they walk back their support of SOPA completely.

Al Franken: 202-224-5641 

Amy Klobuchar: 202-224-3244

As Senate Republicans continue to undermine efforts to rebuild the economy, Senate Democrats have been introducing pieces of Barack Obama’s jobs plan, forcing the GOP to explain their opposition to each individual piece. Republicans already voted against a bill to put teachers and first responders back to work. The next piece of the American Jobs Act that will be introduced will be an infrastructure spending bill.

According to MinnPost, Amy Klobuchar will be the chief sponsor of the infrastructure bill in the Senate:

The bill, called the “Rebuild America Jobs Act,” would invest $60 billion in infrastructure projects and seed money for a national infrastructure bank. The bill would be paid for with a 0.7 percent surtax on individuals’ incomes over $1 million, a measure that has garnered significant opposition from Republicans.

The plan, according to Senate Democrats, would invest money this way:

• $27 billion to rebuild roads and bridges;
• $9 billion to repair transit systems;
• $5 billion for projects selected through a competitive grant program;
• $4 billion for construction of the high-speed rail network;
• $2 billion to improve airport facilities;
• $1 billion for a “NextGen” air traffic control system;
• $10 billion to launch the infrastructure bank, which would pool public and private money for future infrastructure projects.

It’s good to see Klobuchar pushing these sorts of investments, especially because I think it signals a big shift in the political debate.

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Fundraising numbers for the last quarter are in, and Amy Klobuchar outraised her closest opponent by a ratio of 28 to 1. Klobuchar raised $1 million, compared to Dan Severson’s $36,000 and Joe Arwood’s $11,000.

Even more stunning is the difference in cash on hand. Klobuchar has $4 million, compared to Severon’s $27,800 and Arwood’s $7,100.

With about a year to go until the 2012 election, it’s hard to see how either Severson or Arwood will compete, but no real competitor has emerged for Klobuchar.

With only 14 months until election day, Amy Klobuchar still doesn’t have an opponent. Sure, a few candidates have filed, but nobody she needs to take seriously. Of course, Klobuchar didn’t get where she is today by being lazy, so I’m sure she will take them seriously. Even so, it looks like she’ll have pretty smooth sailing.

So what will she do with her time? I’d like to be the first to ask her to bring her immense popularity to bear on the legislative and constitutional ballots.

The DFL will need all the help it can get to win back the legislative majority. Without much effort, Klobuchar could bring a boost to a dozen close legislative races. A few appearances by Klobuchar could raise significant amounts of cash for legislative candidates, as well as potentially bringing in new volunteers for those campaigns.

Klobuchar could also be an enormous help in campaigns against the Republicans’ constitutional amendments. As a popular statewide figure, she could be a strong voice in opposition to the Republicans’ overreach.

Granted, Senator Klobuchar could easily take advantage of her light opposition to increase her war chest and build her profile nationwide. But we have great need for her here at home, and I hope she’ll devote at least some of her time to making sure Minnesota values carry the day in 2012.