President Donald Trump appears to be walking back his long-stated goal of winning Minnesota. MPR News' Mark Zdechlik reports: A Republican presidential candidate hasn't won the state since 1972, but Trump came close four years ago. Since then he has pledged to win here in 2020.
Polling averages show Democrat Joe Biden has maintained a statistically significant lead over Trump in Minnesota for weeks. And on a call earlier this week, senior Trump campaign advisor Jason Miller essentially acknowledged Minnesota is no longer the priority it once was.
“President Trump is aggressively campaigning in every state that he won in 2016,” Miller said.
“Minnesota could still be in play as a late breaker,” just as Minnesota almost broke for Trump in 2016, Miller added.
Looking at where candidates go and where they spend money is a good way to discern their strategy. The dynamics of his reelection campaign have forced Trump to play defense rather than expand his footprint into states he lost in 2016, including Minnesota.
"He can’t afford that right now,” said Todd Rapp, a DFL political analyst. “Because if he doesn’t win Pennsylvania and Michigan and North Carolina and Arizona, it’s not going to matter what he does in Minnesota.” Read Mark's full report here.
Trump and Biden had a real debate President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden met for their second and final debate as tens of millions of Americans have already voted. A deeply divided country begins its final sprint to Election Day amid the coronavirus pandemic, and it's unclear how many voters have yet to make up their minds. Here are five takeaways from the debatein Nashville, Tenn., a much different — and far more civil — night than the last encounter.
There was a real debate
The coronavirus is still the driving force in the election
Health care debate pitted ‘Bidencare’ versus ending Obamacare
Trump attacked Biden as a typical politician, engaged in corruption
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