Cottage Grove Mississippi River, MN

A somewhat better campaign day, insofar as no cars from Texas have decided to use me for slalom practice.

Here’s one of the driveways I walked this morning. Some of the suburban parts of MN-02 are not especially urban. And there’s lots of soybeans and cornfields in the district, too.

A lot of Minnesotans do not want to talk about the election. I had one old lady whose address was so inscrutable that I asked a nice fellow tending his garden how to find it. He didn’t know, though his address was only a few numbers from hers! I mentioned that it was Mrs. D____ that I wanted to see, and he said, “Oh, of course. Just go down the dirt road, 4th house on the left.” So my problems were over — except I couldn't find the dirt road! I asked a nearby crew that was cutting down some trees where this dirt road might be — it had to be right there! They shrugged and said maybe it was on the other side of the tracks, and then they saw it not twenty yards from where they'd been working all morning.

Success! So Mrs. D____ opens the door, takes one look at the campaign card in my hand, looks at me with unabashed disgust and loathing, and slams the door.

Mrs. D______ is in the books as one of our supporters.

The email help desk, on the other hand, is a delight. Real questions that matter, and for which you can provide solutions — often in seconds. Good insights, too. I think this could scale into an institution of real value.