Good morning. I’m going with “interesting,” in that Minnesota passive-aggressive way.
Two presidents, one stage and quite possibly the only general election debate we’ll see this year was … something. Last night’s 90-minute CNN debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump didn’t produce the cross-talk of their first debate four years ago. It still gave us muddled answers, distortions and evasiveness . There was no shortage of name calling, dark rhetoric and “he’s worse than me” jabs. (They even strayed into their respective golf games and achievements, which resulted in verbal blows, too.) Style will matter to some voters, and Trump sounded more forceful than Biden throughout. Biden tried to do some fact-checking of his opponent’s answers and Trump also accused his rival of misinformation. There was no real fact checking by CNN or the moderators in real time on television, although the station’s resident fact-checker did some online . Trump ran through every opening that the incumbent gave him. How it all played with the all-important independent or undecided voters view this will be known in polling yet to come. Another debate has been penciled in for September, which might still meet the eraser.
Biden's unsteady early answers and his slipups are sure to reinforce concerns about his candidacy. Expect a lot of reporting in coming days about stirrings within the Democratic Party to encourage some self-reflection by Biden to decide if he's up to the task of the campaign and another term. But mechanically, every day that goes by from here out gets more complicated if the party is to change course on its White House nominee. The instant reviews, even among Democratic commentators with deep national political experience, were unkind. The Biden story line is sure to overshadow Trump's own shortfalls in the debate, which were on issues of substance mostly.
The matter of criminal convictions got an almost passing mention in the debate. Biden railed at Trump about his myriad legal problems and his recent state conviction; Trump brought up the president’s son, Hunter Biden, over his recent federal conviction. Trump suggested Biden himself could be prosecuted upon leaving office. Trump denied having a sexual encounter with an adult film star, although he declined to do that under oath during his trial. All that said, the criminal conviction certainly doesn’t matter with people partial to Trump and hasn’t moved the polling much either. Case in point: I was in a Costco yesterday and saw a woman in a “Trump 2024 ‘I’m voting for the convicted felon’” T-shirt.
Local mention: Trump referred to the 2020 civil unrest in Minneapolis that followed George Floyd’s killing by Minneapolis police. Trump said in the debate that he sent in the National Guard to Minneapolis. “If I didn’t bring in the National Guard, that city would have been destroyed,” Trump said. Gov. Tim Walz mobilized the Guard, though still faced criticism for not doing it sooner. Trump said at the time that he would consider sending in other military forces if things worsened. Biden didn’t comment on the Minneapolis situation specifically.
Hundreds of thousands of people will vote in this summer’s Minnesota primary, if history is any guide. And many of them will vote well ahead of Aug. 13. Early voting begins today. Clay Masters has a rundown on what is on the ballot, how to get an early ballot and what’s new this year. Remember, if you vote early and change your mind, you have until July 25 to seek a do-over.
A Minnesota district court judge has been reprimanded for attempting to circumvent a new state law designed to restore voting rights more quickly to people with felony convictions who are no longer incarcerated. The Minnesota Board on Judicial Standards says Judge Matthew Quinn failed to impartially uphold the law when he tried to restrict people on probation from voting even after the law change. The public reprimand of a judge is rare. No other discipline was ordered for Quinn, although the board warned he could face sanctions for future infractions. Quinn, who is based in Mille Lacs County, said during the board's investigation that his rulings reflected his belief that the voting law is unconstitutional and his actions were in good faith. Minnesota's appeals court quickly reversed Quinn's orders so the affected people could vote if they wanted. A separate case regarding the 2023 law on voting rights of felons is pending before Minnesota's Supreme Court.
Minnesota's state House ranks will shrink by a member next week. DFL Rep. Liz Olson of Duluth said she'll resign her seat on July 5. The chair of the House Ways and Means Committee previously announced she'd leave after this term. She's starting a new job at the McKnight Foundation next month. Her departure will not force a special election because her seat was already due to be filled in November's election. But it will give the House DFL a bare majority of 68 seats. Another DFL legislator, Heather Edelson, resigned in May after winning a seat on the Hennepin County board.
The closest cannabis dispensary to the Twin Cities is now open at the Prairie Island Indian Community.Island Peži, named for the Dakota name for grass, is starting by selling marijuana grown on the White Earth reservation. It’s the latest tribal-run dispensary and comes several months of when other retail establishments not connected to Native American nations can launch. MinnPost’s Peter Callaghan offers a sneak peek at the new operation and notes that while cannabis-related products can be purchased there they can not be consumed on tribal lands.
Republican lawmakers are urging Gov. Tim Walz to consider his appointments of two tribal leaders, including the president of the Prairie Island community, to the Minnesota Racing Commission. Rep. Nolan West and Sen. Mike Kreun led a letter of several GOP legislators that expresses concern that the two picks will work against the interests of horse tracks overseen by the commission. A week ago, Walz appointed Johnny Johnson of the Prairie Island community and Melanie Benjamin of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe to two openings on the nine-member commission. Their tribes run major casino operations. “There are serious questions about how these two commissioners will fulfill their obligations to support the state’s horse racing industry amid legal proceedings and recent successful lobbying that directly harmed both of Minnesota's horse racing tracks,” the lawmakers’ letter to Walz reads. The DFL governor has defended the selections as recognizing their gambling industry experience. | 
