Minnesota
Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips lays off large portion of presidential campaign staff
SAINT PAUL, Minn. — Democratic Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota confirmed Friday he is laying off a large number of his campaign staff amid his 2024 presidential run.
Phillips took to social media Friday evening to post a video announcing his reason for the layoffs, but did not indicate he is dropping out of the race.
“I found it almost impossible to raise enough to do this campaign the way I want,” Phillips said. “And today, sadly, I had to announce layoffs to a lot of my staff members.”
Phillips began his presidential campaign on Oct. 27, touting himself as a younger alternative to President Biden. He said he was running for “the exhausted majority” and cited issues such as the nation’s debt, military spending and high taxes. He was easily defeated by Mr. Biden in the New Hampshire and South Carolina Democratic primaries, and was not on the ballot in Nevada, but Phillips says the journey has been “joyful” thus far.
Fellow longshot Democratic candidate Marianne Williamson suspended her campaign last week.
“I’m going to continue this journey as long as you want this journey continued,” Phillips said, adding that he made a promise to his staff and supporters.
“I’m not giving up, I’m gonna continue. I’m on the ballot in 43 states. Our country is desperate for change,” Phillips said. “If you still believe that we can do better please consider supporting in my campaign.”
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Minnesota
What six independent voters in Minnesota think about the presidential election
This time around, Vraa said he’s “probably ready” to vote for Harris. “Trump lies so much it’s crazy,” he said. “The cats and dogs pronouncement during the debate. It’s crazy. He bounces around on so many things. It would be OK if he just admitted he made a mistake, but then he doubles down..”
Bird, who works in finance, grew up in a conservative Minnesota household and has voted for Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians and independents. Bird voted for Libertarian Gary Johnson in 2016 and for Biden in 2020. “I really try to take it person by person, year over year,” he said.
Bird’s top issues this election include the burgeoning national debt — which now stands at more than $35 trillion. “They need to curb spending, both candidates should be talking about it,” he said. “Nobody cares about the deficit, and running the government in a way that makes sense.”
Bird is also concerned about the economy, but notes, “as a white-collar worker, in general the economy has been favorable to me.” And he supports abortion rights: “People should have the freedom to do what they want.”
Bird said he’s voting for Harris. “I don’t mind her, I think she’s a good person. She’s a standard Democrat.”
Freyholtz is a Vietnam veteran and retired teacher who runs a family farm in the northwestern Minnesota town of about 250 people.
Minnesota
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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.
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