The New York Times 2020s: on Principles & Values

Amy Klobuchar: Minnesota Nice: reliable, calm, aw-shucks bipartisanship

As Democrats look ahead to 2020, do they need a calm, reasoned, reliable (but not flashy) Democrat from the American heartland to provide a stark contrast to the president--in short, Amy Klobuchar?

"I don't agree with, 'When they go low, we go low,' but I do agree that when they go low, we have to respond," Klobuchar said, referring to the intraparty debate over Michelle Obama's 2016 mantra: "When they go low, we go high."

"But," she went on, "responding doesn't mean just going down a rabbit hole everywhere Donald Trump goes. I don't think we want to tweet caustic comments every morning."

Amy Klobuchar: Nicknamed "The Senator of Small Things," but some are big

Early in her tenure, she carved out a niche in consumer protection, shepherding passage of bipartisan bills to ban lead in toys and improve swimming pool safety after several highly publicized child deaths, measures that Republican strategists in Minnesota said have earned Ms. Klobuchar a derisive nickname: "The Senator of Small Things."

Ms. Klobuchar has heard the "small things" criticism, and resents it. "Not for a minute do I view these as small things," she said sharply. "They're big things for the people whose kids' lives were saved."

Amy Klobuchar: Heartland Amy: an experienced bipartisan pragmatist

While she is hardly a conservative, Ms. Klobuchar has distinguished herself in the campaign by breaking from the new liberal orthodoxy that has dominated the primary. She does not favor a "Medicare for all" health care system, preferring a more graduated approach; she has called the Green New Deal "aspirational"; and she has said the country cannot afford to fund free tuition for students at public colleges and universities. Ms. Klobuchar said she backed legal marijuana, but would leave the decision to individual states rather than endorsing federal legalization.

Andrew Giuliani: As 7-year-old, upstaged father's inaugural address as mayor

Bill Weld: Quit Reagan Justice Department over ethics scandals

Weld, a 2-term Republican governor of Massachusetts more than two decades ago, is 73, tall and slim with a mop of orange hair and a face the hue of Pepto-Bismol. A Harvard and Oxford graduate, Weld worked in the Reagan Justice Department but quit over a series of ethics scandals involving his boss, Attorney General Ed Meese. He ran briefly for governor of New York after leaving Massachusetts, endorsed Obama in 2008 & raised a bunch of money for Romney in 2012. He has written thrillers, dabbled in historical fiction and was last heard from in 2016 as the vice-presidential running mate to the Libertarian nominee, Gary Johnson. He sets off some dilettante alarms.

Mitt Romney: Time for new generation of leaders excluding Biden AND Trump

"At the end of another term, I'd be in my mid-80s. Frankly, it's time for a new generation of leaders," Mr. Romney, 76, said in a video statement. "They're the ones that need to make the decisions that will shape the world they will be living in."

"It would be a great thing if both President Biden and former President Trump would stand aside," Mr. Romney told reporters later on Capitol Hill.

Donald Trump: Questions why Kamala's birth certificate lists "Caucasian"

Mr. Trump also amplified posts from Laura Loomer, a right-wing activist, who had posted copies of Ms. Harris's birth certificate and had spread false accusations that Ms. Harris has lied about her race. [Laura Loomer responded to Trump's NABJ interview by posting Harris's birth certificate, which lists her mother's ethnicity as "Caucasian.] 

Ms. Harris, whose father is from Jamaica, and whose mother was Indian American, has long identified with both her Black and South Asian heritage.