More Minnesota thoughts

It's amazing how much Minnesota has changed since my childhood.  While Minnesota had two Republican Senators for an extended time (fellow St. John's alum David Durenburger and Rudy Boshwitz), everyone understood that this was a Democratic state.  Indeed both of those Republicans came from the "moderate" wing of the party.  We all know that Minnesota is the only state never to vote for Ronald Reagan.  But the Democratic Farmer-Labor Party of Hubert Humphery has fallen on hard times.  The Republicans control the House in the legislature, and the Democrats have not elected a governor since Rudy Perpich in 1986.  Minnesota has become a battleground state in presidential politics.  When I was younger, there were only three Republicans out of eight congressional seats, and at one time it was only two when David Minge represented the 2nd District, but now it is four and four.  Minnesota is no longer a Democratic state, and may be starting to trend Republican.  The areas that are growing (TC suburbs, Rochester, St. Cloud) are Republican areas.  I think the future is bright for Republicans in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.