RALEIGH, N.C — Terry Johnson was cajoled into attending an Amy Klobuchar town hall by his wife Linda – a fact she reminded him about before the start of the televised event.

He wasn't exactly an unwilling participant, though. Johnson, a 64-year-old disabled veteran, voted for Evan McMullan, a little-known independent from Utah, in the 2016 presidential election. He says he doesn't consider party affiliation when voting and supports whichever candidate he believes best represents his interests. This year, Johnson plans to vote for Klobuchar in Tuesday's North Carolina Democratic primary.

"I think she keeps a level head," Johnson said, describing the senator from Minnesota positively as "steady" and "moderate." In the same breath, Johnson criticized President Donald Trump's handling of social benefits and foreign policy.

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Johnson exemplifies the kind of voter that Klobuchar has spent her campaign trying to woo. She's targeted moderates, including centrist Republicans, who are exasperated by Trump but wary of progressive candidates and policies they see as pipe dreams.

At the town hall, televised nationally Thursday evening on Fox News, Klobuchar called for a "return to sanity" and once again made a case for herself as the moral, practical choice for both Democrats and Republicans who are dismayed by Trump's actions – a message implicit in the fact that she was participating in an event hosted by a cable news channel known for its fiercely loyal, conservative viewership.

Several other Democratic candidates – including Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, have held their own town halls on Fox News. By contrast, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts has pledged that she will never participate in a program on the channel. For Klobuchar, it was her second Fox News town hall.

Her pitch is an argument for her electability in the general election: If she can win over Republicans, centrists and Democrats, the logic goes, she has the greatest chance of beating Trump and uniting a divided country. And since polls have shown exhaustively that Democrats' biggest priority is defeating Trump, she's banking on that electability to give her an edge over her fellow Democrats in the nominating process.

"I'm the only one on that stage that has won repeatedly in rural areas and suburban areas, in areas that are more Republican and independent," Klobuchar said Thursday. "I did it by reaching out and bringing people with us. I think that's what our country needs right now."

The town hall, which was moderated by Fox News hosts Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum, was open to the public across the political spectrum. Invitations were sent to local Republican and Democratic groups and special interests like the Chamber of Commerce to disseminate. It was also advertised online, and attendees were encouraged to submit questions that were then screened and selected by an editorial team at Fox News.

Prompted by audience questions, Klobuchar discussed issues like coronavirus, climate change, foreign policy and health care. But she also tackled a question about abortion from an audience member who opposes it. Klobuchar repeatedly reiterated her support for the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized the procedure – a position long-settled in left-leaning circles that isn't frequently debated in Democratic forums.

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"We truly need someone, in my mind, who can work with people across the aisle," she emphasized.

Several attendees said they believed she could win over independents and moderate Republicans, and they said that the attribute was important to them in a candidate.

Yet Klobuchar's path to the nomination appears narrow as the Democratic Party increasingly embraces progressive policies like those touted by candidates like Sanders, the current front-runner, and Warren. Klobuchar sits in sixth place in an average of national polls despite a surprise third-place finish in the New Hampshire primary.

North Carolina, far from a progressive bastion, may be particularly poised to receive Klobuchar's message of moderation and inclusion. State Democrats voted decisively for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton over Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, in the last Democratic primary, and though the state has shifted left in the last decade and become a swing state, Trump won there in 2016. The state legislature is also controlled by Republicans, though they have lost their supermajority.

But Biden and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, not Klobuchar, seem to be voters' moderate of choice. Recent polling shows Biden and Bloomberg in a dead heat with Sanders in the state and puts Klobuchar in sixth, with 4% support.

Attendees at Thursday's event seemed either unaware or unconcerned with Klobuchar's low poll numbers.

Kelly Lumpkin, 66, said he liked that Klobuchar may be able to appeal to rural areas of the country but waffled over whether he could get behind her moderate approach on policy.

"I'm torn. Sometimes I want to hit the long ball, sometimes I want to get the base hit," Lumpkin said. "She gets the singles and the doubles all over the place, and we need that."

Klobuchar appeared relaxed and confident during the question-and-answer session, joking with the audience during commercial breaks and making quips during her televised remarks that elicited choruses of laughter.

After the event, Alyssa Reynolds, 30, said she was drawn to Klobuchar's experience and willingness to "work across the aisle."