Talking Points: Are Progressives Excited Enough To Vote For Joe Biden?
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) - The election is just over eight weeks away and even though the President is trailing in the polls, Democrats are insisting they are not overconfident.
Trumps surprise win in 2016 , even after the release of the Access Hollywood tape late in October, shows how resilient he can be.
For Democrats the question is whether voters will turn out for Joe Biden, or will a critical number of them sit out the way they did four years ago. Hilary Clinton squeaked out a win in Minnesota in 2016, but just barely. She beat Donald Trump by 45,000 votes.
Clinton got 180,000 fewer votes here than Barack Obama had gotten four years before. It was that way in states across the country. Nationally, Black voting dropped by seven percentage points in 2016 over 2012.
The question is whether Joe Biden bring back progressive and Black voters in Minnesota and around the country.
Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar supported Bernie Sanders in the 2020 Primaries.. Turnout in her overwhelmingly Democratic district is considered crucial for Democrats to win state-wide races.
"What we are organizing for is to have people who are responsive to the issues that we care about, people who will address the economic and social neglect our communities have faced for so long, and that is Joe and that is Kamala," Omar said.
Omar does face a well-financed challenger in the general election in Republican Lacy Johnson. As for the Presidential race in Minnesota - most analysts rank the contest as a toss up.