Don't pigeonhole Minnesota's senior senator - letters

Regarding the May 31 commentary "Black voters don't want Klobuchar on the ticket," I'd like to say very loudly and clearly that I hate when anyone inserts themselves as the speaker for a whole group of people. I'm Jewish, and I wouldn't pretend to speak for every Jew in the world, our nation, the state, Minneapolis, or even my particular congregation.

As for writer Jonathan Capehart's views about Klobuchar, I have a black cousin in Ames, Iowa, who caucused for Klobuchar for president, and based on my conversations with him I know he'd have no problem at all having her on the Democratic ticket with Joe Biden. Capehart is certainly free to lay out reasons why he thinks blacks shouldn't support Klobuchar, but he's stepping over the line saying that blacks in general won't support her. Especially with the insensitivity toward anything even approaching reasonable being exhibited by our current administration, I'm guessing that most blacks, Hispanics, Asians, East African immigrants, nonbinary citizens, etc., won't find it very difficult to support a Biden-Klobuchar ticket if that's what comes to pass.

Larry A. Etkin, Minneapolis

I strongly disagree with Jonathan Capehart that Elizabeth Warren or Kamala Harris should be Biden's running mate. First, as to Warren, she did not score well with African-American voters in the presidential primary; she did not even score well in her home state of Massachusetts, coming in third behind Biden and Sanders. As for Harris, she comes from California, a state that is securely blue. As to her appeal to black voters, progressives — and right-wing trolls — have also hammered Harris for her résumé as a state attorney general and local prosecutor.

The Democratic tent is very large. Coming from a state that is more purple than blue, Amy Klobuchar appeals to independents, swing voters, and moderate Republicans and Democrats. We cannot ignore those voters, too, in hopes of winning back the White House.

Deborah Deutsch, Minneapolis

https://www.startribune.com/readers-write-klobuchar-s-vp-prospects-photos-of-covid-19-victims-police-reform-race-in-general-mail-delivery/571059542