How long will the "F" stay in the DFL? [View all]

Bear with me - we have lived in Minnesota only 15 years so am not familiar with the history of the formation of the party.

A few days ago someone had a letter in the strib, describing all the Trump signs on the roads as he drove from Fargo to the Twin Cities. He wondered whether these farmers realized how much they benefit from trade agreements that Trump promises to eliminate, at least to modify.

Not growing on a farm nor a farm community, I was thinking that, intuitively, one does not associate farms with labor union. Farmers are independent - dare I say rugged individuals? - who are constantly facing obstacles. Nature, of course, and government regulations, price support of commodities, bankers, providers of farm supplies. Zoning..

Unions, on the other hand, are based on workers coming together for the common good.

I think that the DFL formed in the Iron Range, when mining was the source of sustenance and when unions were formed under harsh and risky conditions.

But now the mines are gone. Many voters there have lost their jobs, jobs that are never coming back.

There was a story in the strib - today, or yesterday - about the bitterness against the government in the Iron Range and the support for Trump and for Mills.

And I wonder whether switching the Iron Range from blue to red may signal the beginning of the end of the union of farmers and labor.

OK, start shooting..