My question to her and to anyone who reads this is: if you used a random generator to select 1000 Minnesotans and 1000 North Dakotans, what would be the cultural differences, political differences, and outlook differences, between the two groups?
Is Minnesota different from its neighbor North Dakota? If so, how and why? Why is Minnesota considered a blue state and North Dakota a red state? What are the factors that led to this distinction, which would seem to have little to do with the swollen river border we passed, almost imperceptibly, at mid-day.
I have thoughts about this, but I want to hold them for a few days to see what sorts of responses, if any, others might have.
It is my sense that North Dakota is drifting right fast, measurably, and with a level of conviction that I have not seen in my lifetime. I do not have any thoughts about Minnesota, since it is not my state and I do not follow the world of Minnesota very carefully.
I did come to one resolution somewhere near Sauk Center, the home of Sinclair Lewis. I intend to spend much more time in Minnesota in the years and decades ahead, and not just in Minneapolis and St. Paul.
As I passed my grandparents' farm in Fergus Falls, still visible from the interstate highway, though abandoned now, I felt a strong rush of nostalgia, sadness, and joy.
Now we are at the Nicollet Island Inn, preparing to join colleagues for dinner at Murray's, home of the butterknife steak. We'll see about that.
As a Minnesotan proud of our progressive tradition, I have thought about making an attempt to answer your questions regarding the differences with North Dakota. But I fear my comments would only apply to the Minnesota of a few years ago. I think that my state is slowly slipping away from the place that Time Magazine profiled back in the 1970s as a "state that works." While it's true that we are still blue in the electoral counts, we are also a state with an identity crisis.
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