Landrieu: Clinton connects with voters ‘beautifully’

Former Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) joined other female Democrats in praising Hillary Clinton on Sunday, hours before Clinton’s expected presidential launch.

{mosads}During her appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Landrieu was asked how Clinton could connect with voters.

“I think she does that beautifully,” said Landrieu, who suffered a major electoral defeat in last year’s midterms after being tied to President Obama, who is deeply unpopular in her state.

“If Hillary would just be Hillary, and we would all just allow her to just be the really extraordinary leader that she is, her campaign is going to be beautifully, beautifully done,” Landrieu said.

Clinton, who came up short for the Democratic nomination in 2008, is expected to embrace the possibility of becoming the first female president as she works to connect with voters during the 2016 presidential race.

Electing Clinton as the first female president “would certainly be a big step in the future,” said Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) on the same show.

“She’s smart, she knows the issues, she’s probably one of the most experienced people to run for the office of the president,” Landrieu said.

“There’s a nice ring to ‘President Hillary Clinton,'” Landrieu added.

Stabenow acknowledged that she, unlike Clinton, voted against the Iraq war, but said, “That was a very, very tough situation.”

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), who has presidential aspirations but won’t challenge Clinton in 2016, praised the strategy for Clinton’s campaign rollout.

“She’s going to start being able to make her case to the people of this country in small groups, in a warm setting where she excels,” Klobuchar said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

Klobuchar also pushed back against Republican criticism of the Clinton Foundation’s acceptance of funds from nations with poor records on women’s rights.

“I think those contributions to the foundation are open to everyone to look at,” Klobuchar said.

“I don’t think anyone can quite match her record for promoting women’s rights all across the world,” Klobuchar added, referring to Clinton.