Opinion editor’s note: Editorials represent the opinions of the Star Tribune Editorial Board, which operates independently from the newsroom.
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Super Tuesday wasn’t super seismic. President Joe Biden won all 15 contested states and former President Donald Trump won all but Vermont, where Nikki Haley prevailed. The domination of the current and former presidents, including in Minnesota, makes it all but certain that one will earn a second term from voters in November.
Although there weren’t any political earthquakes, there were tremors that may be felt in the general election. Biden and Trump would be wise to study them closely.
Nationally, Haley’s victory in Vermont and solid showing in more densely populated areas reveal real vulnerability for Trump with more moderate voters, particularly in the suburbs — voters who Trump will need to not only win but govern more cohesively and less chaotically than his shambolic first term. Haley withdrew from the race on Wednesday, but she stopped short of endorsing the presumptive GOP nominee, stating that “It is now up to Donald Trump to earn the votes of those in our party who did not support him, and I hope he does.” This, she added, “is now his time for choosing.”
Typically, Trump chose to respond caustically, posting among other social media non-sequiturs that “Nikki Haley got TROUNCED last night, in record setting fashion.” Biden, conversely, set a more stately, strategic tone in a statement that invited Haley supporters to back him, acknowledging that while much separates the two candidates, “on the fundamental issues of preserving American democracy, on standing up for the rule of law, on treating each other with decency and dignity and respect, on preserving NATO and standing up to America’s adversaries, I hope and believe we can find common ground.”
That savvier response reflected a political skill Biden desperately needs — especially among his own party and particularly in Minnesota, where he did not find common ground with nearly 30% of primary voters. But second place didn’t go to U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips, who based much of his now-ended quixotic campaign on Biden’s electoral vulnerabilities. Rather, the No. 2 spot went to “uncommitted,” with 45,913, or almost 19%, of the Democratic primary vote. That surpassed the nearly 13% of Michigan voters who voted similarly in that critical swing state’s recent primary.
Minnesota was likely already in play for the general election, and not just because scores of primary voters were unwilling to commit to the incumbent president. About 38% more Republicans voted in Tuesday’s primary, suggesting an enthusiasm gap (a gulf, really) that may play out in November. And if it does, it could even impact a more popular Democrat, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, as well as the DFL’s slim House majority in St. Paul, which would end the party’s trifecta of House, Senate and gubernatorial control.
