NASHUA – Those familiar with college sports will recognize Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota as forming the Big Ten region. This is precisely where Democratic presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar believes the 2020 Electoral College will be won.

During her Friday campaign stop at Nashua Community College, Klobuchar vowed to “build a blue wall around those states and make Donald Trump pay for it.”

Klobuchar represents Minnesota in the U.S. Senate, as she has since her 2006 election. Though she still trails front-runners such as Joe Biden of Delaware, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Bernie Sanders of Vermont in public opinion polls, Klobuchar has been raising a lot of money for her campaign after the Oct. 15 debate.

Friday, Klobuchar said her focus is “for an optimistic economic agenda.”

“I think that if you really want to get things done… we’ve got to remember, we can do two things at once to really do it. We’ve got to win the U.S. Senate and send (Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.) packing.”

Her plan also includes winning states in the Midwest, such as her native Minnesota.

“I don’t want to be the president for half of America. I want to be the president for all of America,” Klobuchar said.

She advocated for “welcoming people into the work you’re doing even if you don’t agree with them, instead of shutting them out.”

“The story that no matter where you come from, or who you know, or what you look like, or where you love, or where you worship, or who you love, that you can make it in the United States of America,” Klobuchar said. “That is what this is about and yet we have a president that is tearing down that simple idea of shared dreams, that we have each other’s backs. He does it all the time in big ways and little ways.”

Klobuchar spoke on the Paris international climate agreement.

“You think about the international climate trade agreement. That is a really good thing and it is still a really good thing. When (Trump) got us out of it, there were only two other countries not in it: Nicaragua and Syria. They have now both joined the agreement and we are the only ones out,” Klobuchar said.

Klobuchar said if were to become president, she would introduce sweeping legislation and would do so by working with leaders from Congress as well as governors, legislative leaders, local leaders and business leaders.

“The time is now: We have to put a price on carbon,” Klobuchar said. “We have to set a clear goal of going carbon neutral by 2050.”

Another goal of hers is to make sure the economy and education system is connected.

“We have to make sure that kids and students are getting the education they need that will put them on the path to success for the jobs that are available now and in the future,” Klobuchar said. “There are a lot of four-year degree jobs and beyond and master’s degrees and Ph.Ds, so yes, we need to make that more affordable. I would double the Pell Grants up to $12,000 a year.”

Klobuchar said she plans to pay for this by increasing taxes on capital gains. The second thing she would do is look at the job market.

Klobuchar would implement free community college to make it easier for students to obtain degrees and get trained. She also wants to increase minimum wage, help unions organize, and give workers respect and dignity with their jobs.

“We should build up on the program that (Secretary of Education) Betsy DeVos has completely ruined, the public service loan payback program, which is for our teachers and other public service (workers),” Klobuchar said.

“These are common sense ideas and I think they are ideas that are going to bring people in, instead of shutting them out,” she added.

Grace Pecci may be reached at 594-1243, or at gpecci@nashuatelegraph.com.

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