U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar said Thursday she is running for governor of Minnesota, promising to take on Donald Trump while unifying a state that has endured a series of challenges even before the federal government’s immigration crackdown.
Klobuchar’s decision gives Democrats a high-profile candidate and proven statewide winner as their party tries to hold onto the office occupied by Gov. Tim Walz.
Klobuchar cited Trump’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota, federal officers killing two Minnesotans who protested, the assassination of a state legislative leader and a school shooting that killed multiple children — all within the last year. She avoided direct mention of ongoing fraud investigations into the child care programs that Trump has made a political cudgel.
Vote percentage comparisons are valid between local and statewide races.
That’s your prerogative, but unfortunately, I don’t believe there’s more of us on the left than there are centrist/moderate/whatever voters that aren’t turned off by those positions. MN is a blue state, but it’s a very Midwest-style of democrat. The Farm-Labor part of the coalition has been shrinking in the past 20 years or so, as races have become more nationalized even on the local level.
Klobuchar vote percentage in November 2024 election: 56.2%
Omar vote percentage in November 2024 election: 75.3%
You were saying?
That’s just you being wrong 🤷
The “moderate swing voter” that the DNC leadership and the billionaire-owned media pretend to be the end-all be-all for Democrats has been a critically endangered species for decades while the politically disenfranchised Left takes up at least a third of eligible voters nationwide and even more in states with strong union traditions like Minnesota.
If you mean Union Strong, then yes.
If you mean “there being rural folks means that they’re automatically more conservative than other democrat strongholds”, then nope. Wrong again.
You sure about that? Because people like Omar, Walz, Franken, and Paul Wellstone all seem (with the exception of parts of Walz’ platform) to be MUCH more progressive than the majority of Democrats from Neoliberal bastions like New York, California, and Chicago…
Yet Omar won her election by a HUGE margin last time, Klobuchar much less so. Partially BECAUSE of her national profile as a darling of the Left.
Edit: corrected hugely embarrassing mistake of mixing up the names of progressive Paul Wellstone and conservative Norm Coleman 😬😳
I agree that the swing voter demo is largely a myth of the ruling class, but there are a fair amount of moderate voters, but they mainly identify with one of the two major parties.
Franken only won by like 300ish votes, IIRC, during the recount. Coleman became a Republican, so yes, he was definitely more moderate. Or at least more willing to forfeit his principals for continued power. And the last time he ran as a Dem was 1996. Omar is very progressive, not even a question. But she represents one of the bluest portions of an already blue state. Even our first-ring districts are closer to purple - the 2nd district is only D+3; the 3rd is propped up by Bloomington, else it would be more competitive.
And yes, the Farm Labor part has been shrinking. Outstate areas haven’t necessarily become more conservative, but the aforementioned Fox-ification has turned a lot of rural voters against those who would better represent and promote their needs. Propaganda is a hell of a drug - and de-propagandizing them will take a long time, unfortunately. We definitely have our work cut out for ourselves.
Yes, this is true. Her increased exposure, especially after the formation of the Squad, has propelled her higher than would reasonably be expected otherwise. Our next most progressive Representative is likely unknown to most people that aren’t political nerds or live in her district, even though they’ve voted in tandem for much of their time in the House.