By Caitlin Faulds and Devyani Chhetri
BU News Service
Nashua, N.H. – Senator Amy Klobuchar told New Hampshire voters she’s ready to prioritize entrepreneurship Monday in a talk about small businesses, the economy and infrastructure advancement at The Rotary Club of Nashua.
“I’m a big believer in entrepreneurship,” she said to a crowd of about 150.
Klobuchar said she has spoken to small business owners throughout the Granite State and is ready to prioritize the entrepreneurial efforts and economic investments that have brought the country to where it stands.
“Socialism is not the answer,” she said, counting on her moderate stance to chisel a notch into the pre-primary polls.
A Boston Globe/Suffolk University poll released earlier Monday showed Klobuchar in third place, behind Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and former Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg with nearly 14% of New Hampshire voters’ support.
Her economic plan would prioritize economic issues while supporting businesses and workers nationwide with improved health care plans and immigration reform.
“Immigration reform is an economic imperative,” Klobuchar said. “Immigrants don’t define America, they are America.”
She also praised the American spirit that elevates service above self, citing the 2007 Minnesota bridge collapse as a time when crisis brought a community together.
However, she said, investment in infrastructure now can avoid hardship down the road. She noted that she would prioritize New Hampshire’s need for increased broadband access and extended cellphone service, which is lacking in many parts of the state.
“It’s easier to get service in Iceland than in Franconia Notch [State Park],” she said. “I know, I’ve been up there.”
She also drew a personal connection with the Nashua Rotary members by drawing a parallel between her home state, Minnesota, and New Hampshire, which both are among the six states who have two women in the Senate.
“We are one of a handful of states in the entire country who have sent not one, but two women to the United States Senate,” she said.
Transitioning into economic policy, Klobuchar said that she was the only one to propose a $300 billion rainy day fund. The fund, she said, would help budget the expenses judiciously.
She linked this to New Hampshire Senator Jeanne Shaheen’s policy of “biennial” budgeting, that proposed that a budget set in a year be reviewed and revised the next year based on the spending.
“This is something that I’d like to get done as president,” Klobuchar said.
Voters in the audience felt Klobuchar was a likable, honest candidate, but many had already made up their minds for Tuesday’s primary vote.
Long time Rotary Club member, Redding A. Thompson, 92, said that his family had always supported presidential candidate Joe Biden since he was the vice president under President Barack Obama.
“We like his experience,” Thompson said. “We liked his level headed, moderate stance.”
Carol Farmer, 80, former president of the Nashua Rotary Club, felt that Buttigieg from South Bend, Ind., is a better fit for the White House.
“I just love his wholesomeness,” she said. “I think that he is a breath of fresh air and brings on the honesty and simplicity that we’ve been missing for a while.”
