'Washington state is finally relevant' for Democratic presidential candidates

Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar hit Seattle on Monday to meet supporters and raise money for her presidential bid.

KUOW politics reporter David Hyde talked it over with host Kim Malcolm.

Interview Transcript

Kim Malcolm: David, what was the crowd like?

David Hyde: Dozens of people were there. Not a huge crowd, but this was a pretty small venue so it felt crowded.

In fact, I got some dirty looks while trying to squeeze my way into the media corral. So if I stepped on anyone's foot, I'm sorry.

So what was Klobuchar main message?

It's one she's been making all along, which is that she can win back the midwest where Obama won and where Hillary lost to Trump back in 2016.

She says she’s proven she can win the in ”reddest of the red congressional districts.”

Did she have anything to say about impeachment?

Yeah, she did touch on impeachment. She seemed optimistic that witnesses from within the White House would eventually come forward.

She also compared the Trump White House to Richard Nixon's in that both were looking for dirt on opponents, and “they covered it up.”

What else did she talk about?

The many similarities between Washington and Minnesota, climate change and gun control.

It’s worth noting that last week presidential candidate and California Senator Kamala Harris was also in Seattle and she focused on gun control. So clearly Democrats think that's a winning issue in this state, at least in the Democratic primary.

We've seen other candidates in Washington this year: Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Pete Buttigieg, Andrew Yang — why all this attention this year?

Washington state is finally relevant.

Last year Democrats decided to move the Democratic primary up from May to March, so next year the Democratic will take place one week after Super Tuesday. That’s why they’re coming here.

They're not just here to raise funds as they always have. They're actually here to talk to regular voters and to try to win your vote.