The Barack Obama “Heartland for Change” tour wraps up today with events in Duluth. I attended the Hibbing stop at Grandma’s Restaurant. I have to declare the event a success, but that’s mostly because it combined my great loves: politics and drinking beer when the sun is up.
- Sen. Clark is often mentioned as a potential gubernatorial candidate. Her presence on the Range swing of this tour lends credibility to that possibility. She’s well spoken and very good at retail politics.
- Jugovich is the most articulate Iron Range mayor I’ve seen. (Don’t get too excited; it’s not exactly Toastmasters up here). But I wasn’t expecting that, so I’m mentioning it.
- There is a narrative forming that will help Obama here. Our Iron Range ancestors looked different and had hard-to-pronounce names, but they made our lives better by standing up to corporations and demanding fair pay for hard work. All Americans have better wages today because of the Range-wide strikes of 1907 and 1916, even though they weren’t successful at the time. This is the same story in a new century. Change comes slow to the Iron Range, but when it does the whole country benefits. We need change now more than ever.
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