National
What Antone Melton-Meaux’s primary challenge to Ilhan Omar is all about
Antone Melton-Meaux says he supported Omar when she first ran for the seat in 2018. Now, he says, voters are ready for someone else.
Election 2020
Eric Black Ink
Axelrod, Weber agree Trump is in a big political hole and still digging
The two speakers at a U of M online forum agreed that it’s hard for a sitting president to make the election a referendum on his opponent in the middle of a pandemic, which the president is handling poorly, and which has led to an economic crisis.
Eric Black Ink
A big quality that mattered in ’16 — ‘can bring change’ — won’t help Trump in ’20
To say the least, we’ve had the “change” that Trump represented. But he now represents the more-of-the-same choice on the ballot.
Eric Black Ink
Trump approval falls to 40.6% in 538 group’s average of polls
This leads me to believe that most of Joe Biden’s gains in recent months have less to do with a rising confidence in Biden than in a declining confidence in Donald Trump.
National
Jason Lewis has called the death of George Floyd ‘tragic.’ He had very different words after the death of Trayvon Martin
Lewis called Martin “guilty” and lauded Martin’s killer, George Zimmerman, as a good Samaritan.
Eric Black Ink
State results in NYT-Siena College poll: Biden leads in 6 key states
The polling shows Joe Biden with very large leads in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan, the three states that Trump carried in 2016 that enabled his Electoral College victory.
Eric Black Ink
NYT/Siena College poll of registered voters has Biden up by 14 percentage points
It’s only June. But you wouldn’t want to be Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale when he has to explain the situation to the boss.
Eric Black Ink
What will Trump’s view of his powers mean if he loses re-election?
It’s a small leap, or none at all, to argue that a president who thinks he has the power to do whatever he wants could try to cancel the next election if he thought he was in danger of losing, or postpone it until he thought his chances were better …
National
Minnesota GOP endorses Jason Lewis for Senate
Lewis is looking to challenge Sen. Tina Smith in the general election in November.
Eric Black Ink
How do you run a clean, fair election during a pandemic? There are ways.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar appeared by video from Washington to promote a federal bill to expand the use of early voting and voting by mail. However, it has zero Republican sponsors.
Eric Black Ink
How Trump’s doing in polls, both in Minnesota and nationally
Nationally, the gap between approvers (43%) and disapprovers is 10.3 percentage points.
State Government
Minnesota Senate passes 2020 election bill: more money for no-excuse absentee balloting, but no all vote-by-mail
The main provision of the bill expands the voluntary use of no-excuse absentee voting in a year when — due to fears over COVID-19 — the staffing of regular polling is expected to be difficult.
Eric Black Ink
Why Tara Reade’s allegations have left many wondering just what to think
A piece published in Vox helped a bit, not in reaching any conclusions about what really happened but in understanding why it is so hard to know what is going on (or went on) in this instance.
Community Voices
Where does Joe Biden go from here – nationally and in Minnesota?
Uncertainties abound. Four major problems afflict Biden’s campaign in this unprecedented situation.
Eric Black Ink
In his endorsement of Biden, Obama offers a course on ‘Presidential 101’
On Tuesday, Obama released a classy, lovely, dignified video endorsing his friend and former vice president, Joe Biden.
Eric Black Ink
Much depends on the choices Bernie Sanders’ ardent supporters make in the fall
Some Sanders socialists will lose interest, but I deeply hope that, at least in the swing states, they realize they are facing an all-hands-hands-on-deck emergency.
National
How Amy Klobuchar’s campaign for president went wrong
In all, it was a campaign that bet on Iowa, but lost.
Elections
Suburbs and Greater Minnesota propelled Biden to victory in Minnesota
Sanders’ margins in Minneapolis and St. Paul weren’t enough to overcome his weakness elsewhere in the state.
National
Who Minnesotans voted for in the presidential primary, and why
MinnPost is talking to voters in the Twin Cities area to hear what brought them to the polls.
National
What happens to Klobuchar’s delegates now that she’s dropped out of the presidential race?
Seven delegates might not seem like much, but they could matter.
