Minnesota is one of 13 states considered as a key battleground state in the November presidential election, according to BBC News. Also considered part of the battleground 13 are: Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wisconsin.
Why Minnesota with its 10 electoral college votes? Long considered a Democrat Party stronghold, the Gopher state narrowly swung to the Democrats in 2000 by 2.4 percent; 3.5 percent in the 2004 election; and a wider margin of 10.2 percent in the 2008 presidential election.
Jobs and a sluggish economy will be key issues for Minnesota voters as they are expected to be in the rest of the country. With the announced layoffs of 850 General Mills employees and 1,000 at Medtronics on Wednesday, the state will be primed for the candidate willing to put their neck on the line with a plan to create jobs. Of the job cuts planned, 425 will be slashed at General Mills’ Minnesota operations and 250 Twin Cities jobs at Medtronics.
Prior to the announced job cuts, the state’s unemployment rate was sitting at 5.6 percent, considerably less than the nation’s 8.1 percent unemployed workers. However, the state’s poverty rate sits at nearly double the unemployment rate at 10.6 percent.
It’s unlikely that the Republican nominee will be able wrestle this state away from the Democratic incumbent president, but it will be interesting to watch the final votes tallied on election eve.
—Keith Hansen
Comments (23)
Add commentJust Wondering...
How much does a political commentator at the Brainerd Dispatch get paid for writing: "it will be interesting to watch the final votes tallied on election eve"?
Inquiring minds want to know.
Wow mission
what a profound statement. How much do you get paid for your drivel?
Actually I have to agree with mission
You don't see results on the eve of elections, but rather post elections. Keith, you are losing points without proof-reading your comments. Just saying.
Wow,
tuff guy/gal, you scare me.
You kids
stop fighting.
Bu...bu. but........
he talked nasty to me PaPa.
MN liberals are still
MN liberals are still addicted to the empty promises of more free stuff from big government and O’Bama, Franken and Klobuchar are just the guys to make and break those promises, plus O’Bama is still black. Barry will play the race and class cards and carry Minnesota with those other three riding his coat tails. He’ll probably carry Floridah in the same manner. Barry can also boast but provide no prove of his job creations while he was a neighborhood agitator. On election night I get very tired from stealing all those O’Bama yard signs so I go to bed early, cover my head and pray. You kids can be interested in watching the final results if you like
You mean this Barry?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/daily/may98/goldwater30.htm
Keith is so subtle...or maybe just
copying Fox News. Keith: "a Democrat Party"
"Democrat Party" is a political epithet used in the United States instead of "Democratic Party" when talking about the Democratic Party. The term has been used in negative or hostile fashion by conservative commentators and members of the Republican Party in party platforms, partisan speeches and press releases since 1940."
Time for him to shape up and act like an audience developer instead of an audience divider. Well, I guess he is developing quite a following of folks, not fans, however.
My favorite part of this column...
...that the information about Minnesota being a battleground state comes from the BBC!
And lakelander, if the most insulting thing conservatives ever do is refer to the "Democratic Party" as the "Democrat Party", you've got it pretty cushy. If democrat is such an awful word, why do people who belong to the local DFL routinely refer to themselves as "democrats"?
hey lakelander
democrat party...democrat party...democrat party.
you should get me banned for badmouthing
response
It identifies the above writer, Keith, as rather unintelligent if it is unintentional. Is it an error or intentional? Either way, he is not looking too smart.
You can say it all you want as a poster. That is your right of course. But an intelligent well-read reporter would not use the expression. A blogger would. Keith is a blogger.
Maybe we are blogger wannabees! What you two say does not bother me. I like to spar and snark, too.
It is the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party in Minnesota.
Nationally it is the Democratic Party...and we are Democrats.
Whatever...
lake, it matters little to you or your brethren
as to what Keith writes or how he writes it. You and your kind have attacked him and villified him from the day he wrote his first article. And while I sometimes agree that he may not proof read his articles, just seeing his name fills you people with nothing but venom!!
You may be right.
Maybe the critique will improve the quality of his work.
Well lake
it hasn't done much for yours!
Leftist terrorists will never
like what Keith reports. Also, the supporters of said people will never like it also.
GOP gets a lot of free stuff
How many millionaire farmers receive tax subsidies in the amount hundreds-of-thousands of dollars, every year? Thousands right here in Minnesota, too!! How many GOP affiliates are trust fund babies and have gotten free money their whole lives? Tens of thousands, and right here in Minnesota!!! All these GOP birthers think complaining about the same thing, big government, will actually do something. Wake up and stop generalizing like some charlatan hack, Government is business. If your laughing look at all the millionaires these American businesses made:
The Top 100 Contractors Report on the Federal Procurement Data System lists the top one hundred defense contractors by sales to the United States military. ('DoD 9700' worksheet).[1] The Department of Defense announces contracts valued at $6.5 million or more each business day at 5 pm.[2] All defense contractors maintain CAGE (Commercial and Government Entity) Codes, and are profiled in the Central Contractor Registry[3].
List of United States defense contractors.
Switzerland/United States Acutronic
Republic of Ireland Accenture Ltd.
United States Action Target
United States Advatech Pacific, Inc
United States Aerojet
United States Aerospace Corporation
United States Aerovironment
United States Advanced Armament Corporation (AAC)
United States Advanced Integrated Systems
United States AECOM
United Kingdom Aegis Defense Services
United States Aimpoint
United States AirScan
United States Airtronic USA
United States Aivea Corporation
United States Allen Vanguard
United States Alliant Techsystems
United States/Canada Allied Container Systems
United States AM General Corporation
United States American Dynamics Flight Systems
United States American Ordnance LLC
United States American Petroleum Institute
United States Analysis, Computing & Engineering Solutions, Inc. (ACES, Inc.)
Ukraine Antonov Airlines
United States Applied Research Associates Inc.
United States Arcturus-UAV
United States ARINC
United States Argon ST
United States ArmorSource
United States ArmorWorks
United States Artis LLC
United States ASSETT, Inc.
United States Astronautics Corporation of America
United States Aurora Flight Sciences
United States AV-Optimal Defense Consultancy Service
United States AVX Aircraft Company
United Kingdom BAE Systems plc
United States BAE Systems Inc.
United States BAE Systems Land and Armaments
United States BAE Systems Electronics, Intelligence & Support
South Africa Land Systems OMC
United States Ball Corporation
United States Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp.
United States Barrett Firearms Manufacturing
United States Battelle Memorial Institute
United States Bechtel Corporation
Italy Benelli USA
United States Berico Technologies
Saudi Arabia/United Kingdom BDM Corporation
United States Blazeware Inc.
United States Black Knight Technology Inc.
United States Boecore
United States Boeing Company
United States Boeing Sikorsky Comanche Team
United States Boeing SVS
United States McDonnell Douglas
United States Insitu
United States Booz Allen Hamilton
United States Boston Dynamics
United Kingdom British Nuclear Fuels Limited
United States Brogden Enterprises, Inc.
United States CACI International Inc.
United States Carlyle Group
United States Carnegie Mellon University
United States Ceradyne
United States Charles Stark Draper Laboratory
United States Chenega Federal Systems
United States CNA Corporation
United States Colt Defense
United States Concurrent Technologies Corporation
United States Critical Solutions International
United States Crye Associates
United States CSA Engineering
United States CSI Combined Systems
United States Computer Sciences Corporation
United States Cubic Corporation
United States Omega Training Group
United States Decibel Research Inc.
United States Defense Technologies Inc.
United Kingdom Delta Intelligence & Security
United States DEW Engineering
United States Digital System Resources Inc.
United States Dillon Aero
United States DRS Technologies
United States DynCorp
United States Dynetics, Inc.
Netherlands EADS
United States EADS North America
France Eurocopter
United States American Eurocopter
France Airbus
United States Earth Class Mail
United States East/West Industries, Inc.
United States EBA-D
United States Edison Welding Institute
Israel Elbit Systems
United States M7 Aerospace
United States ENSCO, Inc.
United States/Turkey/Poland Environmental Tectonics Corporation
United States Ernst & Young
United States Evergreen International Aviation
United States Exxon Corporation
Italy Fabbrica d'Armi Pietro Beretta
Belgium Fabrique Nationale de Herstal
United States FLIR Systems
United States Fluor Corp.
United States FGM Inc
United States F M C Technologies
United States Force Protection Inc
United States Foster Wheeler Ltd.
United States Foundation Health Systems Inc.
United Kingdom G4S plc
United Kingdom Armour Group Inc
United States GB Industrial Battery
United States Gemini Industries Inc.
United States General Atomics
United States General Dynamics
United States Gulfstream
Switzerland MOWAG
United States General Dynamics Electric Boat
United States Bath Iron Works
United States General Electric Military Jet Engines Division
United States Geo-Centers Inc.
Austria Glock Ges.m.b.H.
United States Goodrich Corporation
United States Georgia Tech Research Institute
United States Harris Corporation
United States/United Arab Emirates Halliburton Corporation
United States Health Net, Inc.
Germany Heckler & Koch USA
United States HESCO USA
United States Hewlett-Packard
United States Honeywell
Croatia HS Produkt
United States Humana Inc.
United States Hybricon Corporation
United States IBM
United States Industrial Machining & Design Services, Inc.
Puerto Rico Infotech Aerospace Services (a Pratt & Whitney joint venture)
United States Insight Technology
United States Institute for Defense Analyses
United States Intelsat
United States International Resources Group
United States iRobot
Israel Israeli Aerospace Industries
Israel Israeli Military Industries
United States ITT Exelis
United States ITT Research Institute
United States Jacobs Engineering Group Inc.
United States JGB Enterprises, Inc.
United States Johns Hopkins University
United States Kaman Aircraft
United States Kearfott Corporation
United States Kellogg, Brown and Root
United States Knight's Armament Company
Norway Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace
United States L-3 Communications Holdings, Inc.
United States SYColeman
United States Brashear
United States EOTech
United States Lockheed Martin
United States Longbow Limited Liability Inc.
United States LRAD Corporation
United States M9 Defense Systems
Sweden MacGregor Group (part of Cargotec corporation)
Denmark A.P. Moller-Maersk Group
United States ManTech International
United States Massachusetts Institute of Technology
United States Maytag Aircraft Corporation
France/United Kingdom/United States MBDA
United States McQ Inc
Turkey Menatek Spare Parts
Australia Metal Storm
South Africa Milkor USA
United States Mission Essential Personnel
United States MITRE Corporation; also see ANSER Institute for Homeland Security
Japan Mitsubishi
United States Motorola Inc.
United States Mustang Tech Group
United States Natel Electronic Manufacturing Services
United States Navistar Defense
United States Nextel
United States NexGen Data Systems, inc.
United States Nichols Research Corporation
Japan NITTOH KENSETSU CO., LTD.
United States Northrop Grumman Corporation
United States Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems
United States Northrop Grumman Information Technologies
United States Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems
United States Northrop Grumman Mission Systems
United States Northrop Grumman Newport News (formerly Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Company)
United States Northrop Grumman Ship Systems
United States Northrop Grumman Space Technology
United States Northrop Grumman Technical Services
United States Ocean Shipholdings Inc.
United States Oceaneering International
United States Olin Corporation; also see John M. Olin and John M. Olin Foundation
United States Orbital Sciences Corporation
United States Oshkosh Corporation
United States Osterhout Design Group; see also Ralph Osterhout
United States OT Training Solutions
Canada Para-Ordnance
United States Perot Systems
United States Picatinny Arsenal
United States Pinnacle Armor
United States Point Blank Solutions, Inc.
United States Precision Castparts Corporation
United States Quantum3D
United States QinetiQ North America
United States Raytheon
United States BBN Technologies
United States JPS Communications
Canada ELCAN Sighting Systems
United States Remington Arms
United States Revision Eyewear
United States Rock Island Arsenal
United States Rockwell Collins
United Kingdom Rolls-Royce plc
United States RONCO (de-mining operations Horn of Africa)
Sweden Saab AB
United States SBG Technology Solutions
United States Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC)
United States Sensis Corporation
United States Shell Oil Company
Germany Siemens AG
United States/Canada SimplexGrinnell, LP
United States SFA, Inc.
United States SGIS
United States Smartronix, Inc.
United States SmartRounds
United States Smith & Wesson
United States Sobran, inc
United States SPARTA, Inc.
United States Springfield Armory
United States SRC Inc
United States SRI International
Singapore ST Engineering
Singapore ST Kinetics
United States Sumaria Systems
United States Vision Technologies Systems
United States Stanley, Inc.
United States Standard Missile Company LLC
United States Stevedoring Services of America
United States Stewart and Stevenson
United States Strum, Ruger & Company Incorporated
United States Sverdrup Corporation
Switzerland Swiss Arms
United States SIG Sauer
United States Talla-Tech
Brazil Forjas Taurus S/A
United States TCom
United States Teledyne
United Kingdom Telent
United States Texas Instruments
United States Textron Inc.
United States Bell Helicopter Textron
United States United Industrial Corporation
United States AAI Corporation
United States The Columbia Group
United States Trijicon
United States Tri-Star Engineering, Inc.
United States TriWest Healthcare Alliance
United States Tyco International Ltd.
United States ADT Security Services
United States University of Texas System
United States Unisys Corporation
United States United Technologies
United States Sikorsky
United States Pratt & Whitney
United States URS Corporation
United States Washington Group International
United States USmax Corporation
United States US Falcon
United States US Ordnance
United States Vangent
United States Velocity Systems
United States Verizon Communications
United States Vinnell Corporation
United States Vinnell-Brown & Root
United States Westinghouse Electric Corporation
United States Wiley X
United States Worldcorp Inc.
United States Wyvern Technologies, Aerospace & Defense Contractors
United States Xe Services LLC
United States York Executive Operations
This is only $5,000,000,000 a week. The food stamp program in $750,000,000 a year. More GOP lies and the liars that tell them.
Obama/Biden 2012
Grandpa
are you saying that no DFLer is in the same group?
You scream GOP you fool. prove to me your heroes aren't in it up to their eyolf-balls!
SHEEEEESH!
I did catch
the biggest fool on the first cast!
Grandpa, not a good use of your time.
You've been busy, but proving
nothing. Just a bunch of made up junk.
So...
...the federal government paying independent contractors equals privatization? Now I've heard it all. I did look up the numbers, Ey, the only category of federal employee that has gone down since 1962 is uniformed, military personnel:
http://www.opm.gov/feddata/HistoricalTables/TotalGovernmentSince1962.asp
Given that office automation was rather primitive in the 1960's, and far more manually intensive than now, I guess this increase in personnel in the executive branch should be seen as a good thing, because now they can do really important things, like inserting Obama's "accomplishments" into every other President's bio since Calvin Coolidge.
Truly, Obama is the very embodiment of malignant narcissism.
"Malignant narcissism"
muehlbau, that is a great phrase. Mind if I borrow it?
Birds of a feather....
Birds of a feather.... a little 'projection' there , I suspect.