Minnesota
How Vance Pulled Off Jedi Mind Trick on Walz at the Debate
Republican Vice Presidential nominee JD Vance tried to “throw off” his opponent, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, on Tuesday night’s vice presidential debate by greeting him with friendliness and cordiality, an aide to the Ohio senator said in a new report.
Walz was reportedly preparing to debate a much more hostile Republican nominee, sources told Axios—and was expecting “more MAGA mode given what [Vance has] been saying repeatedly on the stump.”
“The ‘MN nice’ dynamic played out more surprisingly and organically onstage than strategically, in a way maybe neither candidate expected,” a Walz campaign aide told the outlet.
Vance’s camp said: “We had an intentional strategy of not being overly adversarial and aggressive and jumping down Walz’s throat on every little thing,” a Vance aide told Axios.
It stands in stark contrast to the no-holds-barred image his Walz debate prep stand-in, Minnesota Rep. Tom Emmer, gave reporters the night before the debate.
“No amount of Minnesota nice is going to make up for the fact that Walz embodies [Kamala Harris’] open-border and soft-on-crime” policy stance, Emmer told reporters on a call on Monday night. The GOP congressman predicted Vance would “wipe the floor” with his state’s governor.
But viewers tuning in to the actual debate were greeted with a different reality: Vance and Walz started and ended the debate with a handshake, and agreed with one another at multiple points throughout the evening.
When Walz spoke about his son, Gus, witnessing a shooting at a community center near his school in 2023, Vance offered him an apology:
“I didn’t know that your 17-year-old witnessed the shooting,” the Ohio senator said. “And I’m sorry about that. And I hope, Christ, have mercy. It is awful.”
“JD’s focus on bipartisanship was intentional, because we knew it was a side of JD that the media has largely ignored,” the advisor told Axios. “The goal was to disarm the ‘he’s an extremist’ B.S. by positioning him in the populist center. Democrats may have mindf—ed themselves into believing the caricature they invented.”
Despite this, at least one response seemed only designed to appeal to the MAGA wing of the Republican base. When asked if he accepted the results of the 2020 presidential election, Vance deflected and said he was “focused on the future.”
Walz called the response a “damning non-answer.”
But some of Vance’s personality as the campaign’s “policy attack dog,” as the Wall Street Journal reported earlier this week, did manage to shine at moments during the debate. After Margaret Brennan corrected the Ohio senator that most of the Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio do have legal status, Vance spoke over the moderators and went on the offensive.
The CBS anchors eventually cut off both candidates’ microphones as they continued to argue about the legal status of the Haitian immigrants.
Minnesota
MSU Alum Having Career Year for Minnesota Vikings
Former Michigan State wide receiver and current Minnesota Viking Jalen Nailor has been terrific in his third season in the pros. As the third wide receiver on the field alongside Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison, Nailor has improved his career numbers in his now third year in the league.
Drafted in the sixth round of the 2022 NFL Draft out of MSU, the Vikings landed a strong piece to an even stronger offense in the Vikings. Nailor’s efforts since joining the Vikings have provided the franchise comfort knowing he is out on the field.
In his first season, Nailor played in 15 games, recording nine receptions in 13 targets. He posted 179 receiving yards in his rookie campaign, averaging 19.9 yards per reception. Receiving seven first downs in Year 1, the Vikings looked to get Nailor more involved on the roster in Year 2.
Though the team wanted to get more out of Nailor, they were unable to due to Nailor’s lack of time on the field. In his second season, Nailor only played in six games. In the six games, Nailor totaled only three receptions that went for 29 receiving yards. Nailor received one first down on the season before he was inactive in Weeks 15, 16 and 17.
In what would be a do-or-die season after a lackluster second-season campaign, Nailor made sure he reminded Viking fans why he belonged. Playing in 15 games for the Vikings this season, Nailor has dropped career highs in four different statistical categories. MSU fans should be proud of their former Spartan.
Nailor has 20 receptions, which is one of his new career highs, and he has totaled 280 yards, averaging 14 yards per reception. His best game on the season came against the Detroit Lions back in Week 7, where he recorded four receptions in five targets and got 76 receiving yards, averaging 19 yards per reception.
As the Vikings approach the postseason, Nailor should be a key piece to a deep playoff run if the Vikings make it as far. Minnesota, going into Week 17, has a record of 13-2 and should continue to be a force to take seriously for whoever it faces in the playoffs.
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Minnesota
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Minnesota
An Unusual Airport Is Closing in Minnesota
A small airport with a bigger claim to fame is closing in northern Minnesota after more than a half-century of operation. The Piney-Pinecreek Border Airport is so named because its runway crosses the US-Canada border, reports Minnesota Public Radio. In fact, it’s been hailed as “the world’s first binational airport,” notes the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Despite the bragging rights, however, the airport has been mostly used by hunters and fishermen, and the cost of maintenance has proven to be too much. The airport has a 3,297-foot runway, of which 2,350 feet are in Minnesota and the rest in Canada, per the Grand Forks Herald.
“It’s a tough decision to close an airport ever, but the evidence was all there that now was the time,” says Ryan Gaug of the Minnesota Department of Transportation. The airport opened in 1953 and is one of six now that straddle the border—but only Piney-Pinecreek has a paved runway. “It’s always been the No. 1 fun fact that I’ve shared with friends, family, coworkers, colleagues here at MnDOT,” says Gaug. The agency has jointly owned the airport with the municipality of Piney, Manitoba, in Canada, but the town ended the arrangement because it was unable to meet the cost of maintenance. As such, “a colorful era in the history of Minnesota aviation” ends on Friday, per the Herald. (More Minnesota stories.)
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