>In any event, Minnesoooota is under going a political transformation
If so, a VERY slow one. The myth that Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa are Republican states has persisted for decades, but a look at the States that went Democrat in the last number of elections tells all. (Minneapolis area is just like the Seattle area. So large and nutso they carry the entire states.)
Actually I know quite a bit about Minnesota, because my main hobby right now is congressional redistricting, as to both the law and the politics of it. There is a serious erosion if DFL stength. It manifests itself everywhere outside of Minneapolis itself. The erosion is catastrophic in the North country and the Minneapolis exurbs. This state is on the move. I will be very surprised if Wellstone survives the erosive tsunami of a move towards moderate Republicanism.