Clinton to Campaign at UMD
Posted at: 10/29/2012 11:49 AM
| Updated at: 10/29/2012 6:33 PM
By: Renee Passal and Laurie Stribling
lstribling@wdio.com
In the final days before the November vote, it seems the presidential campaign is shifting its focus. Minnesota now joins other hotly contested states getting attention from both President Obama and Republican Mitt Romney.
Both candidates launched late TV commercials in Minnesota, and Political Science Assistant Professor Tony Hill, at the University of Minnesota, Duluth, said this last effort for air time may mean Minnesota is up for grabs.
"The ad buy suggests the Obama campaign is desperately worried about losing Minnesota," Hill said. "It's bad for Obama if he has to fight to hold on to Minnesota. A state that has gone democratic longer than any other state."
Minnesota has been a strongly blue state every election year since 1976. Hill said the nation as a whole has been trending more republican compared to recent years, and Hill said that same trend may have been seen in Minnesota after weekend polling.
"If Obama can't win Minnesota, he can't win," Hill said.
Hill said there is another possible sign Minnesota is becoming a battleground state this election. Former President Bill Clinton will be in Duluth October 30. According to an Obama campaign site, UMD will welcome the Former President at the Kirby Ballroom. Doors will open at 12:30 p.m.
Hill said Clinton's visit may play a part in winning votes, but his rally is not unusual. The former President rallied late on the campaign trail in 1996. A year Hill said democrats didn't need to fight for Minnesota.
Clinton will be rallying for Obama, Senator Klobuchar and other Democratic candidates.
(Copyright 2012 WDIO-TV, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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