>> THIS IS A WMUR COMMITMENT 2020 SPECIAL, CANDIDATE CAFE.
ADAM: AT THE AIRPORT DINER IT’S A CHANCE TO GET TO KNOW THE CANDIDATES, WHEN THEIR GUARD IS DOWN, AND THEIR PERSONALITY IS ON DISPLAY >> WHO DO YOU THINK DOES A
BETTER IMPERSONATION OF YOU?
LARRY DAVID OR STEPHEN COLBERT?
ADAM: DURING WMUR’S CANDIDATE CAFE THE TEST FOR VOTERS IS HOW WELL YOU KNOW NEW HAMPSHIRE.
SEN. KLOBUCHAR: I CAN SAY WINNIPESAUKEE.
I CAN SAY BERLIN.
ADAM: AND HOW WELL THOSE VOTERS CAN GET TO KNOW YOU.
MR. PATRIC DON’T TELL ANYBODY THAT I HAVE ORDERED BACON ALONGSIDE MY EGGS.
ADAM: IT’S THE PERSONAL SIDE, LIKE YOU’VE NEVER SEEN BEFORE.
MS. GABBARD: ONE OF OUR FIR DATES WAS ACTUALLY OUT AT MY FAVORITE SURF SPOT.
ADAM: WELCOME BACK TO OUR CANDIDATE CAFE SPECIAL.
I’M ADAM SEXTON.
A WARM DRINK AND A GOOD MEAL MAKE IT A LITTLE EASIER TO LET DOWN YOUR GUARD EVEN FOR EXPERIENCED POLITICIAN WE CONTINUE OUR LOOK AT THE PERSONAL SIDE OF
CANDIDATES RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT -- WHO SAT DOWN WITH UNDECIDED VOTERS AT THE AIRPORT DINER.
THOSE GUESTS GOT DEMOCRAT AMY KLOBUCHAR TO OPEN UP ABOUT AN EMBARRASSING MIX-UP DURING HER FIRST DAY IN THE SENATE.
AND THE PEOPLE WHO TAUGHT HER TO SPEAK UP FOR HERSELF AT A VERY YOUNG AGE.
IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL THE YOUNG AMY KLOBUCHAR HAD A TEACHER WHO OPENED UP A WORLD OF POSSIBILITY.
SEN. KLOBUCHAR: I HAD THIS TEACHER IN FOURTH GRADE WHO WAS SO GREAT ABOUT TRYING TO MAKE YOU SOMETHING BIGGER THAN YOURSELF WE WOULD GIVE SPEECHES AND
PRESENTATIONS.
SHE WOULD SIT AT THE OTHER END OF THE CLASS AND YELL I CAN’T HEAR YOU.
LIKE A LOT OF GIRLS BACK THEN, YOU DIDN’T THAT YOU WERE GOING TO BE PRESIDENT.
I REMEMBER IN HIGH SCHOOL THE GOAL WAS TO HAVE LONG HAIR OR HAVE A HAIRCUT LIKE DOROTHY HAMILL’S.
TO GO ON YOUR ROOF AND GET REALLY TAN IN THE SUMMER, WHICH IS REALLY BAD FOR YOU.
MARRYING YOUR HIGH SCHOOL PROM DATE.
I DID NOT DO THAT.
MY PROM DATE WAS GAY ACTUALLY , TURNED OUT TO BE GAY.
ADAM: KLOBUCHAR IS QUICK WITH A JOKE BUT SHE’S KNOWN AS A GET-THINGS-DONE KIND OF SENATOR.
WHILE SHE STARTED IN POLITICS EARLY IN LIFE, SHE REALIZED THE TRUE IMPACT OF PUBLIC POLICY WHEN SHE BECAME A MOM.
SEN. KLOBUCHAR: WHAT REALLY MADE ME SEE THE VALUE OF PUBLIC SERVICE AND GETTING THINGS DONE WAS WHEN OUR DAUGHTER WAS BORN, AND SHE WAS REALLY SIC SHE COULD NOT SWALLOW.
IT WAS A COMPLETE SHOCK.
WE DID NOT KNOW IT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN.
SHE WAS BORN JUST A FEW WEEKS EARLY.
THEY DIDN’T KNOW IF SHE WAS GOING TO LIVE.
THEY THOUGHT SHE HAD A TUMOR.
THEY THOUGHT SHE HAD SOME KIND OF GENETIC DISEASE.
SHE WAS IN INTENSIVE CARE.
I GOT KICKED OUT OF THE HOSPITAL, THEY HAD THOSE INSURANCE RULE THEY KICKED ME OUT OF THE HOSPITAL AND I SAID TO MY HUSBAND I BET THIS WOULDN’T
HAPPEN TO THE WIFE OF THE HEAD OF THE INSURANCE COMPANY.
SHE WAS GETTING A LITTLE BETTER AND I JOINED FORCES WITH SOME OF THE PEOPLE IN THE LEGISLATURE AND I TESTIFIED.
WE PASSED ONE OF THE FIRST BILLS IN THE COUNTRY GUARANTEEING NEW MOMS AND THEIR BABIES A 48-HOUR HOSPITAL STAY.
I LEARNED TWO THINGS FROM THAT.
IF YOU TALK ABOUT REALLY EMBARRASSING THINGS IN FRONT OF LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEES OF MEN THEY ARE LIKE OK, WE DON’T WANT TO DEAL WITH THAT.
THE SECOND IS THERE’S PEOPLE, NO ONE COULD SAY THEY WERE AGAINST THE BILL.
THEY WERE TRYING TO DELAY IT.
I BROUGHT A BUNCH OF PREGNANT FRIENDS TO THE CONFERENCE COMMITTEE.
THEY OUTNUMBERED THE LOBBYISTS.
IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE AUGUST 1, THEY WERE TRYING TO GET IT A YEAR DELAYED, THE LOBBYIST.
MY FRIEND SAID NO, THAT IS WHAT THEY DID.
THEY MADE IT FOR WHEN THE GOVERNOR SIGNED THE BILL.
ADAM: KLOBUCHAR’S DAUGHTER IS NOW IN HER 20S AND A REGULAR AT THE SENATOR’S SIDE ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL.
AS IS HER HUSBAND, JOHN.
SEN. KLOBUCHAR HE’S A 7.5 YEARS YOUNGER THAN ME, HE DOESN’T LOOK LIKE IT.
WHEN WE WENT ON OUR HONEYMOON, WE WENT TO VISIT MY RELATIVES IN SWITZERLAND.
I WAS 33, HE QUALIFIED FOR A YOUTH RAIL PASS.
>> HOW DID YOU MEET?
SEN. KLOBUCHAR: WE MET AT -- WE MET AT A BAR.
[LAUGHTER] THERE WAS A POLITICAL CONFERENCE , WALT MONDALE WAS HOSTING IT.
WE STARTED TALKING AND HE WAS REALLY INTERESTED.
I WORKED FOR MONDALE AT THE TIME.
THEN WE MET AND THAT WAS FUN, AND THEN WE HAD SOME MUTUAL FRIENDS, THEY GOT US TOGETHER AT A POOL HAL WE WENT ON OUR FIRST DATE, WE WERE GOING TO DOUBLE DATE WITH A
FRIEND OF MINE.
I WAS SUPPOSED TO INVITE SOMEONE FOR HER.
THAT GUY HAD A GIRLFRIEND OR SOMETHING.
THE THREE OF US WENT TO WAYNE’S WORLD.
[LAUGHTER] IT WAS FUNNY.
ADAM: SPEAKING OF FUNNY, KLOBUCHAR’S BEEN ABLE TO FIND QUITE A BIT OF HUMOR IN HER TIME IN THE SENATE.
SEN. KLOBUCHAR: MY FIRST DAY IN THE SENATE I WENT AND GOT SALAD AND SOUP I WAS IN THIS BEAUTIFUL ROOM.
THE SENATOR FROM WASHINGTON STATE GRABS MY ARM AND SAYS AMY, YOU TOOK THE ENTIRE BOWL OF THOUSAND ISLAND DRESSING AND YOU ARE ABOUT TO EAT IT.
FROM A NORTHERN CLIMATE I THOUGHT IT WAS WILD RICE SOUP.
I SAID THAT’S WHAT WE DO IN MINNESOTA.
WE EAT THE THOUSAND ISLAND DRESSING.
THERE ARE HORRENDOUS BURDENS AND THERE ARE BURDENS ON THE CITIZENS.
IT IS YOUR JOB TO MAKE LIVES BETTER FOR THEM.
IF YOU DON’T ENJOY IT, PEOPLE WILL KNOW YOU DON’T.
IF YOU DON’T ENJOY BEING WITH PEOPLE I DON’T THE YOU SHOULD HAVE THE JOB.
A LOT OF THIS IS BRINGING PEOPLE WITH YOU.
WHETHER IT IS WITH THE STORIES, HUMOR, OR KNOWING THEM PERSONALLY, OR EMPATHY FOR THEIR SITUATION, EVEN IF THEY ARE ON THE OTHER SIDE, IT IS IMPORTANT FOR HOW YOU WILL BE ABLE TO
GOVERN.
ADAM: SHE’S ALSO EXPERIENCED HER SHARE OF HEARTBREAK.
HER DAD WAS A CELEBRATED SPORTSWRITER WHO COVERED THE MINNESOTA VIKINGS BUT HAD A DRINKING PROBLEM.
IS THERE SOMETHING THAT YOU CAN POINT TO A REASON THAT MOTIVATED YOU TO RUN?
SEN. KLOBUCHAR: WHEN I LOOK BACK AT MY LIFE, I WAS NOT ANOINTED TO RUN FOR OFFICE.
MY LIFE WASN’T ALWAYS COMPLETELY EASY.
MY DAD STRUGGLED WITH ALCOHOLISM MY WHOLE LIFE, GROWING UP.
HE HAD 3 DWI’S BY THE TIME I GOT MARRIED.
THAT WAS WHEN HE WAS GIVEN A CHOICE, JAIL OR TREATMENT, AND HE CHOSE TREATMENT, AND IT CHANGED HIS LIFE.
THAT REALLY AFFECTED ME.
IN HIS WORDS HE WAS PURSUED BY GRACE AND IT HAS REALLY SHAPED A LOT OF THE WORK I HAVE DONE AS A PROSECUTOR AND MAKING SURE PEOPLE GET TREATMENT AND THINGS LIKE THE OPEN TOY -- OPIOID
EPIDEMIC.
AND HE’S NOW 91, AND HE’S IN ASSISTED LIVING.
HE GOT LATE-ONSET ALZHEIMER’S.
IT DIDN’T AFFECT MOST OF HIS LIFE.
HE HAS THIS AMAZING SET OF JOKES AND HUMO HE RECALLS THIS EVEN THOUGH HE MAY NOT REMEMBER WHO PEOPLE ARE.
ABOUT A YEAR AGO HE INTRODUCED ME TO A NURSE AT THE PLACE AND SAID THIS IS MY DAUGHTER, SHE HOLDS AN OBSCURE JOB IN THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.
HE HAS THIS BANK OF THINGS THAT HE STILL REMEMBERS.
ADAM: KLOBUCHAR IS AN AVID CYCLIST AND ALSO ENJOYS HIKING.
SHE HIT THE TRAILS HERE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE EARLIER THIS YEAR.
SEN. KLOBUCHAR: THEN WE WENT HIKING IN THAT PACK MONADNOC , DID I SAY IT RIGHT?
WE DID THAT, AND IT WAS HILARIOUS.
I READ IN THE GUIDEBOOK, IT WAS EASTER, IT WAS A NICE DAY.
I SAID WE WILL GO THIS ROUTE AND GET EXERCISE.
THERE IS A RANGER THE AND THEY SAY THE ROAD YOU CANNOT DRIVE UP THE ROAD.
I THINK HE MEANT YOU CAN WALK UP THE ROAD.
YOU CAN’T DRIVE.
I SAID WE ARE NOT USING THE ROAD.
WE GO ON THIS HIKE AND THERE IS ICE AND SNOW STILL UP THERE.
WE ARE SCRAMBLING, IT IS REALLY HARD.
WE GET TO THE TOP AND THERE ARE ALL OF THESE SENIOR CITIZENS WHO WALKED UP THE ROAD.
ADAM: HE JOINED THE RACE LATER THAN HIS COMPETITORS, BUT FORMER MASSACHUSETTS GOVERNOR DEVAL PATRICK IS USED TO DOING THINGS HIS OWN WAY.
THE DEMOCRAT SAYS STARTING HIS POLITICAL CAREER AS AN OUTSIDER REINFORCED THE LESSONS OF HIS EARLY LIFE.
DEVAL PATRICK GREW UP ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF CHICAGO, A GIFTED KID WITH A UNIQUE FIRST NAME.
MR. PATRICK: MY FATHER WAS A JAZZ MUSICIAN, THEY SPLIT WHEN I WAS FOUR.
MY FATHER WAS A VERY OFTEN GUARD MUSICIAN, SAME THING WITH HIS LIFE.
MY MOTHER AND FATHER HAD A DEAL THAT SHE WOULD GET TO NAME THE FIRST AND SHE WOULD GET TO NAME THE SECOND SO, MY SISTER RHONDA WAS NAMED AFTER AN ACTRESS, RHON
FLEMING?
AND THEN MY FATHER WANTED TO NAME -- I WAS THE SECOND, SO IT WAS MY FATHER’S TURN.
HE DREAMT UP THIS NAME, MY MOM SAID WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?
I’M SURE I’M PARAPHRASING THE CONVERSATION BUT IT WAS IN THAT NATURE.
HE SAID LOOK, THIS WAS THE DEAL SO HERE I AM.
I USUALLY GET IS IT PATRICK DEVAL, OR DEVAL PATRICK?
ADAM: THERE WERE HARD LESSONS LEARNED IN THOSE EARLY YEARS.
MR. PATRICK: AS I SAID, GREW UP IN CHICAGO, LOT OF THAT TIME ON WELFARE WITH MY GRANDPARENTS AND MY MOTHER AND SISTER.
I WENT TO BIG, BROKEN, OVERCROWDED URBAN SCHOOLS.
I HAD FABULOUS TEACHERS.
TEACHERS WHO WERE AMAZING IN THE CLASSROOM AND IMPORTANT IN MY LIFE.
MY SIXTH-GRADE TEACHER TOOK US TO A N MOVIE THAT WAS OUT OF THE TIME CALLED THE SOUND OF MUSIC.
SHE USED US TO TEACH ABOUT THE RISE OF THE NAZIS AND THE SECOND WORLD WAR.
I DESCRIBED HER AS THE FIRST PERSON WHO HELPED ME IMAGINE WHAT IT MIGHT BE LIKE.
I THINK IT IS A GIFT FOR AN KID, ESPECIALLY FOR US.
ADAM: HIS PROMISE AS A STUDENT HELPED HIM LAND A SPOT AT THE PRESTIGIOUS MILTON ACADEMY IN MASSACHUSETTS.
MR. PATRICK: I LANDED THERE THE NIGHT BEFORE CLASSES BEGAN, AND THEY HAD A DRESS CODE IN THOSE DAYS, THE BOYS WORE JACKETS AND TIES TO CLASSE MY GRANDPARENTS WHEN THE
CLOTHING LIST ARRIVED SPLURGED ON A NEW JACKET FOR ME TO WEAR TO CLASS.
A JACKET ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF CHICAGO IS A WINDBREAKER.
I COME BY MYSELF, NEVER SEEN CAMPUS THE NIGHT BEFORE.
THE NEXT MORNING THESE BOYS ARE PUTTING ON THEIR BLUE BLAZERS, I HAD WINDBREAKER, AND I THOUGHT HOO BOY I’VE GOT A LOT TO LEARN.
ADAM: HE WAS A QUICK STUDY, RISING FROM MILTON ALL THE WAY THROUGH HARVARD LAW SCHOOL, AND TO THE NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE FUND.
>> BEING A LAWYER, YOU’VE HAD A LOT OF FASCINATING CASES, WHICH IS YOUR FAVORITE?
MR. PATRICK: THERE IS MORE THAN ONE.
>> TELL US ABOUT IT.
MR. PATRICK: SO I MENTIONED EARLIER I WAS HEAD OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS DIVISION.
THIS WAS IN THE CLINTON ADMINISTRATION.
I MET PRESIDENT CLINTON WHEN SUED HIM WHEN HE WAS GOVERNOR OF ARKANSAS.
THE ELECTION COMMISSION IN ARKANSAS IS CONSTITUTIONALLY CHAIRED BY THE GOVERNOR.
THE OTHER OFFICERS AND THEN THE COUNTY CLERKS WERE ALSO PARTIES TO THIS CASE.
THIS IS WHEN I WAS AT THE LEGAL DEFENSE FUND IN NEW YORK.
WE SUED HIM ON A CASE HAVES IT DO WITH ACCESS TO THE BALLOT.
THE COUNTY CLERKS IN A LOT OF SOUTHERN STATES ARE VERY POWERFUL.
THEY HAVE A LOT OF CONTROL OVER HOW YOU REGISTER, WHEN YOU REGISTER, HOW SIMPLE OR COMPLICATED IT IS.
HE AND I WORKED OUT THE TERMS OF THE SETTLEMENT TOGETHER.
ADAM: PATRICK BECAME A GOVERNOR HIMSELF, ELECTED TO LEAD THE COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS IN 2006.
>> WHAT WERE THE BEST AND WORST THINGS ABOUT BEING GOVERNOR OF MASSACHUSETTS?
MR. PATRICK: WELL I’LL TALK ABOUT THE BEST AND THEN FOR THE WORST WE CAN SHUT OFF THE CAMERAS.
I HAVEN’T RUN FOR ANYTHING BEFORE.
OUR DYNAMIC IN MASSACHUSETTS IS LESS DEMOCRAT-REPUBLICAN THEN IT IS INSIDER-OUTSIDER.
IT IS VERY INWARD LOOKING POLITICAL ESTABLISHMENT.
I WASN’T A PART OF IT.
I THINK IN SOME WAYS THE THING I’M PROUDEST OF IS THAT WE REMEMBERED WE HAD IT WITHIN US TO DO BIG THINGS.
AND TO DO THEM TOGETHER.
IT WASN’T ALL ABOUT LEGISLATION, JUST ABOUT COLLABORATION.
I FEEL GREAT ABOUT THAT.
I THINK THE WORST DAY, THE WORST DAY YOU KNOW ABOUT WAS THE DAY THE BOMBS WENT OFF AT THE MARATH IN SOME WAYS THAT WEEK WAS VER POWERFUL FOR US, BECAUSE THAT’S
THE KIND OF OCCASION ALL THE INGREDIENTS FOR THIN GOING WRONG, FEAR AND UNCERTAINTY AND ANGE ALL THE THINGS WE COULD GO SIDEWAYS EASILY, DIDN’T, WE
ASKED THAT WE TURNED TO EACH OTHER RATHER THAN ON EACH OTHER.
FOLKS JUST BROUGHT THEIR BES THE FIRST RESPONDERS, THE LAW ENFORCEMENT, REGULAR CITIZENS, THE KINDNESS THEY SHOWED TO RUNNERS AND VISITORS.
I THINK ALL OF THAT CONTRIBUTED TO FINDING THESE TWO TERRORI NEEDLES IN A HAYSTACK IN A HUNDRED PLUS HOURS.
ADAM: PATRICK HAS A SOFT SPOT FOR STORIES OF PEOPLE FINDING UNITY THROUGH ADVERSITY.
AT THE CAFE TABLE HE RECOUNTED THE HOLOCAUST SURVIVAL STORY OF STEVE ROSS, A BOSTON MAN WHO IN THE SPRING OF 1945 WAS A TEENAGER, STARVING AND NEAR DEATH AFTER BEING LIBERATED FROM
A CONCENTRATIO CAMP.
MR. PATRICK: AND HE SAID THERE WAS A MAN ON A TANK, AN AMERICAN GI ON A TANK WHO WAS HAVING HIS RATIONS.
THIS YOUNG MAN WHO PROBABL WAS 19 YEARS O JUMPED DOWN AND HANDED THE BOY HIS RATIONS.
HE TALKED ABOUT HOW HE FELL DOWN ON HIS KNEES AND STARTED KISSING HIS BOOTS.
IT WAS THE FIRST ACT OF GRACE HE’D BEEN SHOWN IN A VERY LONG TIME.
HE SAID THE G.I. PICKED HIM UP AND COMFORTED HIM, HE GAVE HIM THIS TINY AMERICAN FLAG.
WHEN I MET HIM, IN HIS 80’S, HE WAS STILL CARRYING.
I THINK I’M SENSITIVE TO IT BECAUSE I KNOW HOW MANY ACTS OF GRACE MADE IT POSSIBLE FOR ME TO COME FROM THE SOUTH SIDE OF CHICAGO TO THE EXPERIENCE I HAD.
I THINK THE AMERICAN DREAM IS DEPENDENT ON A LOT OF THINGS, INCLUDING GRACE.
ADAM WE HAVE MANY CANDIDATES AHEAD.
PLUS, FIRST IN THE NATION VOTERS ENJOY UNUSUAL ACCESS TO PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES BECAUSE OF EVENTS LIKE O CANDIDATE CAFES.
GRANITE STATERS TELL US HOW THE UP-CLOSE APPROACH AFFECTS THEIR CHOICES ON THE BALLOT.
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