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Vote approval hangup threatens Arizona voters

Arizona is home of some of the most strident electiondeniers in the nation. Donald Trump insisted the Arizona vote totals were rigged in 2020, and Republican leaders there have not let it go. Republican candidate for Arizona governor Kari Lake, who lost her election three weeks ago, still has not conceded and insists some problems with Maricopa County ballots being printed too lightly to be read by electric tabulators at the polling places is a sign of fraud and manipulation. Truth is, all the ballots were collected and counted. Now, in Cochise County in Arizona, a pair of Republican ...

When sports, politics clash

Like the Olympic Games, the World Cup comes aroundonce every four years, and it grabs the interest of soccer fans throughout the world. As such the World Cup, unfortunately, becomes a prime arena not just for sports but for all the political gamesmanship that comes with international competitions. This year the World Cup is being hosted by Qatar, a small, oil rich Middle Eastern country with a questionable human rights record, especially concerning the hordes of foreign workers it brings into the country to build its buildings and infrastructure in harsh heat, paying substandard wages ...

DFLers should focus on getting regular job done

When political parties attain a controlling majority in Congress or a state legislature, they tend to flex their muscle and try to push through all the pet bills and projects that the other party was blocking before. So it is in Minnesota this year, where the DFL has gained control of the State Senate to go along with its majority in the House. With DFLer Tim Walz in the governor’s office, the DFL is poised to do whatever it wants to do. It’s not quite that simple, of course. Not all members of a party necessarily want the same thing, and on some issues, they need a supermajority, ...

Thumbs Up/Down

Community Friends THUMBS UP: New Ulm Community Friends has done it again. Close to 1,100 people were served at the New Ulm Community Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday. It was one of the biggest turnouts in the 34-year history of the dinner. The food was delicious, and people had a chance to get together and enjoy the holiday with each other. This lets people who might otherwise be alone on the holiday to enjoy socializing with others, and gives people who find it harder to prepare a big meal for family to get everyone together. Holiday decorations THUMBS UP: In the past few years ...

Government: Democrats should build record, avoid overreach

The election victory celebrations in Minnesota DFL circles may include glee and legal THC, but there should also be plenty of doses of reality and fiscal restraint. The DFL leaders in the House and Senate have razor-thin majorities. While Gov. Tim Walz won by a wider margin of 7.7 percentage points, the quality of the opposition candidate made the choice for voters much easier than thinking about policy positions. The DFL should view this opportunity as a moment to take measured steps to approve bipartisan policies in some cases (easing voting registration, for example), and yet ...

Better candidates bring better results

Every midterm election has important takeaways for both parties. In this past midterm election, like many before it, the party in power lost some ground in the House of Representatives. However, it was certainly not near the “red wave” that was expected. Commenting on this, the former Republican governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie, made a simple statement: “If you run bad candidates, you will get bad results.” Christie’s comments were about the viability of the candidates, including their experience and their message. He was lamenting the “celebrity culture” approach ...