In her home state, Amy Klobuchar is a political rock star, with the Minneapolis Post declaring her "Minnesota's most popular politician." In 1998, when she first ran for office as elected attorney of Hennepin County, Klobuchar faced a tight election, but in 2002, no opponent ran against her. Moving to the Senate, she handily secured her first seat in 2006. Klobuchar's winning streak lasted through 2012 when she won a hefty 60% of voters' support (via Minnesota Post). But when she ran for president in 2018, things changed.

Klobuchar's understated demeanor — classic Minnesotan — didn't play well outside of the midwest, and political columnists surmised she lacked the skills and finesse necessary to reach a national audience. The polling data about her national popularity confirmed as much, wavering under 2% at the beginning of 2019 (via Minnesota Post). Her geography worked further against her as coastal candidates in bigger media markets got more screen time — a difficulty faced by previous politicians from so-called "fly-over states." Still, she persevered until March 2, 2020, when she dropped out of the race (via NBC News).