Trump and Biden hit unlikely battleground state of Minnesota

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By WILL WEISSERT and STEVE PEOPLES

DULUTH, Minn. (AP) — A solidly blue state for the past half century, Minnesota became an unquestioned presidential battleground on Friday as President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden fought for working-class voters in dueling events that marked the beginning of early voting.

Their campaigning was knocked off front pages and broadcasts in the state and nationally Friday night by the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, But before that, their contrasting styles and stances during the day and evening gave fresh signs of the campaign to come in the final weeks before Election Day.

The candidates steered clear of the state’s most populated areas near Minneapolis to focus on blue-collar voters, some of whom shifted to Republicans for the first time in 2016. Trump went to Bemidji, about 200 miles (320 kilometers) north of Minneapolis, while Biden campaigned in a suburb of Duluth, on the banks of Lake Superior and close to the Wisconsin border.

Biden railed against Trump’s inability to control the pandemic, casting the president’s reluctance to embrace more serious social distancing safeguards as “negligence and selfishness” that cost American lives. Trump, before leaving the White House, said as he has many times that “we’ve done a phenomenal job” against the virus and predicted mass vaccinations by spring.



President Donald Trump arrives for a campaign rally at Bemidji Regional Airport, Friday, Sept. 18, 2020, in Bemidji, Minn. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)



Read more: https://apnews.com/b0accafb711676be9f06853ee0f35e7a

[Calista241]

1. So this concerns me if Minn is truly in play.

[bearsfootball516]

5. You campaign everywhere, not just in states you think are up for grabs.

[Happy Hoosier]

12. It's not really that in play right now

I mean, never take anything for granted but....

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2020-election-forecast/minnesota/

[MFM008]

2. Charlie Cook

Pretty much said maggot is finished weds. Night on O Donnell show.
The pie is baked.

[DarthDem]

3. LOL at the Article's "Unquestioned Battleground" Nonsense

It's not a battleground. Mr. Trump's only hope in the upcoming election is to gain an unexpected state, and so he's pursuing Minnesota. That will be in vain. Biden just appeared there to play a small amount of defense and - if I know his brilliant campaign team - give the other side's jokers a head fake. Plus, it's nice to let MN voters know that they're not taken for granted, and some of the media coverage from Joe Biden's event - and amazing speech - will be carried over into bordering Wisconsin.

[exboyfil]

4. Nice to see

Since Clinton failed to visit Wisconsin during the General Election.

[DarthDem]

6. That Is

. . . unfortunately quite accurate.

[LenaBaby61]

13. Since Clinton failed to visit Wisconsin during the General Election.

She could have gone to Wisconsin a million times, and so could any other Dem presidential canidate, but that 2016 election was rigged, fooled with and stolen from Hillary Clinton/Dems with help from putin.

putin's still meddling in our elections, and thuglicans aren't doing anything about it.

FBI director Wray says Russia is actively interfering in 2020 election to 'denigrate' Biden.

Washington (CNN)FBI Director Christopher Wray said Thursday that Russia has been "very active" in its efforts to influence US elections, with the primary goal being to "denigrate" Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.

Testifying before the House Homeland Security Committee, Wray told lawmakers that Russia is primarily interfering through "malign foreign influence in an effort to hurt Biden's campaign" -- echoing the intelligence community's public assessment on Moscow's meddling efforts issued last month.
Wray's comments come as President Donald Trump and several other top administration officials have recently attempted to play up the theory that China is meddling to get Biden elected, while downplaying well-founded reports that Russia is trying to help Trump win again, like it did in 2016.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/17/politics/fbi-director-wray-russia-election-interference/index.html

[reACTIONary]

7. Yep. Click bait horse race headline. nt

[Thekaspervote]

8. It is nonsense!! MN is not a battleground state. Typical 2 siderism let's make it a horse race

[turbinetree]

9. After Obestar's seat went to a republican the northern part of the state has been slowly been taken

over by these right wing hacks that have been running around stating that it was all the DFL fault for the mines shutting down................no............ it was the illegal dumping of the steel during the Nixon administration and the continuation of buying foreign steel, hell look no further than when the New Oakland Bay Bridge was built Chinese steel was used.............and now the traitor is bringing his fucking version of "buy america", while his GD daughter is helping in negotiating a deal to a foreign interest in Chile to build a copper mine in the Northern part of the state.........that's not buy america that's outsourcing.....

[DarthDem]

10. Some truth there, but . . .

Somewhere between 55 to 60% of Minnesota's people live in the Twin Cities and the areas surrounding them. And those areas are strongly Democratic, to put it mildly. Take a look at the 2018 gubernatorial results.

The next two largest cities, Rochester and Duluth, are also very Democratic.

It's not a battleground. This election isn't going to be a repeat of 2016.

[paleotn]

11. What the hell is he doing in MN???!!!

It hopeless. He's down 15%. But, as Napoleon once said, "Don't interrupt your opponent when he's making a mistake. It's bad manners."