Must Protect Precious

I've heard rumors about Amy Klobuchar's non-public deportment for years. And now HuffPo is out with a shot at Saint Amy just as she prepares to run for President:

At least three people have withdrawn from consideration to lead Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s nascent 2020 presidential campaign — and done so in part because of the Minnesota Democrat’s history of mistreating her staff, HuffPost has learned.

Klobuchar, who plans to make an announcement about a potential presidential bid on Sunday in Minneapolis, has spent the past several months positioning herself to run for president. She’s beloved in her state as a smart, funny and personable lawmaker and has gained national attention for her lines of questioning at high-profile hearings.

Beloved is certainly overstating the case, but read on:

But some former Klobuchar staffers, all of whom spoke to HuffPost on condition of anonymity, describe Klobuchar as habitually demeaning and prone to bursts of cruelty that make it difficult to work in her office for long.

It is common for staff to wake up to multiple emails from Klobuchar characterizing one’s work as “the worst” briefing or press release she’d seen in her decades of public service, according to two former aides and emails seen by HuffPost.

It's always been tough to get anyone in the Minnesota media to say anything untoward about Klobuchar, who has always worn her father's Star Tribune career as a protective shield. But she won't be afforded such courtesies elsewhere. So how will her courtiers here in Minnesota greet this report? Guess, just guess:

But there's a controversy to the controversy, with some observers — including Tim Dickinson of the Rolling Stone — wondering if the reporting of such rumors reflects a sexist double standard:

White Knight

The views of Tim Dickinson are probative, of course. And if "you've never read this story about a male politician," whose responsibility is that? Unless you are involved in the media yourself, you only read what other people write, and what their editors and publishers send to press. The last time this issue came up was in Politico, which ran this handy chart:

Men and women

You see Saint Amy at the top, but you see men on the list as well. It's especially interesting that the two Republicans on the list are women often accused of being RINOs, but that's another post.

Unless you are actively involved in politics, or are rich enough to buy their attention, chances are you don't really know much of anything about the politicians who purport to represent you. You don't know but you've been told how smart, funny, and personable Amy Klobuchar is. We're more likely to learn the truth about who she really is now, because people who aren't in her thrall will now begin to tell the tale.