Watch CBS News

Klobuchar Campaign Makes Final Push Before Iowa Caucuses

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Two weeks from Monday voters in Iowa will hold the first caucus in the nation to kick off the 2020 Presidential election.

Recent polls put Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar fifth in both Iowa and national polls, but today she did get a boost.

The New York Times endorsed both her and Senator Elizabeth Warren for the nomination. The paper called Warren the "standard-bearer for the American left" and Klobuchar the very definition "of mid-western charisma."

RELATED: NYT Editorial Board Endorses Amy Klobuchar, Elizabeth Warren

WCCO's Esme Murphy looks at what's at stake for Klobuchar in the Hawkeye state.

At an Iowa bar this weekend, Klobuchar made her pitch to the first in the nation voters she has staked her presidential campaign on.

While the Minnesota Senator has shown glimmers of bursting through to the top tier it appears her best hope may be caucus day itself.

"If she stays in fifth, where she more or less has been for months, that is not a good sign for her," Professor David Schultz of Hamline University said.

While Klobuchar picked up a co-endorsement from the New York Times she also got a solo endorsement from Iowa's Quad Cities Times.

"Having an endorsement from the New York Times but more importantly from the Quad City paper get her the attention she needs with two weeks to go," Schultz added.

But at a time when she's getting a small boost, Klobuchar has to head off the campaign trail to sit as a juror in the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump.

It's hardly an ideal time for jury duty but after marching with other presidential candidates at a Martin Luther King Junior Day rally today in South Carolina she says Dr. King will be with her.

"Our job is to bring Dr. King's spirit of justice with us, just as we do justice for our country," Sen. Klobuchar said.

As the battle for Iowa enters its final weeks, the fight for votes in other early states is just beginning. Here in Minnesota, early voting is underway for the March 3rd Super Tuesday primary at special polling places across the state.

The latest Iowa poll out today shows Klobuchar in fifth place with 11%. Joe Biden leads the poll from Focus on Rural America with 24%. He's followed by Elizabeth Warren with 18%.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.