How Amy Klobuchar's complex relationship with her father has shaped her pragmatic approach to politics

(Image credit: Ethan Miller / Getty Images)

published 7 May 2019

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) wants to stage an intervention.

The 2020 Democratic presidential hopeful thinks what the U.S. needs now is a "teller of hard truths," who can use "old-school Democratic pragmatism" to get the country back on track, writes The Washington Post.

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Her pragmatism is not surprising given her upbringing with her father, Jim Klobuchar, the Post reports. The elder Klobuchar was a star columnist for the Minneapolis Star Tribune, known for providing a "voice to the voiceless." He was an also alcoholic, who would drive under the influence with his daughter in the passenger seat and miss childhood birthdays. But the future senator remained by her father's side all despite all that, intent on trying to help him, the Post reports.

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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.

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