Polling shows Trump behind where he finished in Minnesota four years ago

Writes Astead W. Herndon in The New York Times, “If any state is positioned to go from blue to red in 2020, to embrace the fullness of Trumpology and provide the president some much-needed Electoral College insurance, it is Minnesota. The state’s northern and eastern regions have grown more conservative over the years, and Republicans won two House seats in the state during the 2018 midterm elections — a rare bright spot during an election characterized by an anti-Trump wave.  … however, most evidence indicates that the president is in a worse position in 2020 than where he finished in 2016. New polling from The New York Times and Siena College shows that Joseph R. Biden Jr. leads Mr. Trump by nine percentage points in the state, more than five times the small margin Hillary Clinton won the state by four years ago.”

In The Washington Post, Dave Weigel and Lauren Tierney write, “No poll has found Trump ahead in Minnesota, but polling underestimated his 2016 support, and Republicans contend he has held or gained ground since then. As in the rest of the Midwest, Trump struggled in cities but won vast numbers of rural White voters — and in Minnesota, that cut right through the coalition that had elected Democrats for decades. … Democrats have lost ground with some of their traditional Minnesota voters, but the 2018 election revealed the limits of the GOP’s gains. Trump had won just 45 percent of the vote in 2016 and got close to Clinton in part because 9 percent of voters backed a third-party candidate.”

WCCO-TV reports: “A new CBS battleground tracker poll shows former Vice President Joe Biden with a nine point lead over President Donald Trump in Minnesota. The lead shows a substantial improvement over Democrats’ 2016 performance with college-educated white women. Currently, Biden is 13 points above Hillary Clinton’s performance in 2016.

In the Star-Tribune, Rochelle Olson writes: “An eerie absence of energy and excitement settled in and around U.S. Bank Stadium and downtown Minneapolis on what should have been a rocking tailgating party before the Minnesota Vikings-Green Bay Packers border battle Sunday to open the NFL season. … The COVID-19 pandemic and state restrictions that came with it put a big wet blanket on not only the pregame activities but also the energy inside the 66,000-seat stadium, where fans are banned for at least the first two home games.”

For MPR, Myah Christiansen writes: “The family of George Floyd celebrated his life Sunday in Minneapolis as they launched the George Floyd Memorial Foundation.  … Before his death at the hands of Minneapolis police in May, George Floyd had spent time working for the Salvation Army Harbor Light Center in Minneapolis. During Sunday’s foundation launch outside the center, the Floyd family announced its first donation would be to that nonprofit.” 

An AP story says, “Big Ten Conference university leaders were presented a comprehensive plan Sunday to conduct a fall football season, but a final decision is still to come. A person with direct knowledge of the situation told the Associated Press that the full Council of Presidents and Chancellors heard from all the subcommittees of the conference’s Return to Competition Task Force over 2 1/2 hours. … The person said the meeting broke up without the presidents and chancellors voting and with no set plans for them to reconvene. Still, if they act quickly and approve a plan, Big Ten football could kickoff as soon as the weekend of Oct. 17.”

The Star Tribune’s Neal St. Anthony writes, “Tenants are renegotiating their leases downward to reflect reduced revenue. Banks and other financial institutions are preparing to take write-downs on mortgages, thanks to property owners who can’t make full payments. Downtown Minneapolis had a record 50,000-plus residents and more than 200,000 workers when the COVID-19 virus shut it down in March. Less than a quarter of those folks, who drive downtown retail and hospitality sales, as well as tourists, are showing up to shop, sleep or eat downtown.”

This from WISN-TV in Milwaukee, “Wisconsin has set another record for new coronavirus cases in a single day. There were 1,582 new positive cases in Wisconsin on Sunday. There were 6,153 new negative cases. The previous daily record was last Thursday when the number of new positive cases was 1,547. The positivity rate for the past seven days in the state is 14.1%.”

The Star Tribune’s Neil Justin writes, “Ed Asner already has a special place in Minnesotans’ hearts, thanks to his role as cantankerous news director Lou Grant on ‘The Mary Tyler Moore Show.’  Now he’ll also be remembered by this picturesque town in the southeastern corner of the state as the visitor who helped bring Main Street back to life. The 90-year-old Emmy winner served as honorary guest for the inaugural edition of the Spring Grove International Film Festival, which went forward this past weekend despite the pandemic. For four nights, Asner fulfilled his duties, and then some, promoting his new mockumentary, ‘Senior Entourage,’ which co-stars Minnesota native Marion Ross and Helen Reddy; serenading guests with a rendition of ‘Over the Rainbow’ at a nearby saloon; participating in a reading of a play by festival organizer Katie O’Regan; and leading a parade festooned with balloons, a nod to his role in the 2009 animated Pixar hit ‘Up.’”