Klobuchar plans campaign rallies across Iowa despite impeachment trial

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) announced a string of Iowa rallies for her presidential campaign next week despite the Senate’s ongoing impeachment trial.

Klobuchar joins other Senate presidential candidates including Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) in trying to balance their Senate duties during the procedure and their ability to hit the campaign trail in crucial early states like Iowa.

The White House hopeful’s sprint across the Hawkeye State, which will start Thursday and come the week before Iowa’s caucuses, will take her to 19 cities over five days, a rapid clip reflecting the full-court press the campaign is making to win over voters. 

President Trump’s legal team is expected to wrap up its defense Tuesday, setting up a vote regarding allowing testimony from witnesses and additional documents into the Senate record. 

Should that vote fail, it could set up a final vote on two articles of impeachment that is widely expected to result in Trump’s acquittal, thus ending the trial. Should the vote pass, it would extend the proceedings past Wednesday for an uncertain amount of time. 

Klobuchar’s campaign said in the release announcing the Iowa tour that events are “subject to change based on U.S. Senate schedule.” 

The Minnesota Democrat is banking on a strong performance in Iowa, a state with strong similarities to its northern neighbor that would appear to be a good stage for Klobuchar. However, analysts have speculated about the effect the impeachment trial could have on her and other senators’ campaigns, keeping them stuck in Washington and away from the trail six days a week for as long as the proceedings last.

While Sanders and Warren are both dispatching top surrogates to the state in their absences, they too are scheduling appearances for themselves in Iowa. 

Sanders will hold a rally in Ames on Saturday and barnstorm Perry, Storm Lake and Sioux City on Sunday. Warren will hold a town hall in Muscatine on Saturday before holding events in Davenport and Cedar Rapids on Sunday.