Klobuchar: Race, gender should not be litmus tests for 2020 Dem nominee

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) said Sunday that she does not believe the Democratic Party must nominate someone for president in 2020 who isn’t a white male, but that the ticket should “reflect the country.”

“I don’t think there should be one litmus test. But I do think that our ticket should reflect the country. And I always like to say, ‘May the best woman win,’ ” Klobuchar said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

{mosads}”A woman can well represent men,” she added. “And one of the things that bothers me is where I hear things that people don’t think that.”

Klobuchar called the results of the 2018 midterm elections an “incredible roadmap,” noting that female candidates were elected to Congress in record numbers and won gubernatorial races in Kansas and elsewhere.

Klobuchar is one of four female senators who have entered the 2020 presidential race, joining Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.). Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) has also announced her candidacy.

Klobuchar said in a previously released portion of her “Meet the Press” interview that she does not believe she was “born to run” as fellow candidate Beto O’Rourke (Texas) suggested he was.

“I have a lot of respect for Beto. And it’s great to have some Texas in this race,” she said. “But no, I wasn’t born to run for office, just because growing up in the ‘70s, in the middle of the country, I don’t think many people thought a girl could be president.”

The Democratic Party became the first major party to nominate a female presidential candidate with its choice of Hillary Clinton in 2016.