Capitol View for September 20

Good morning. It don’t take money and it don’t take fame. Don’t need no credit card to ride this train.

Coming next week: Watch for a new Minnesota Poll. It looks at the race for president, issues driving voters in the 2024 election and views toward Gov. Tim Walz and other prominent political figures. The first of several stories on the MPR News/KARE 11/Star Tribune poll lands Monday.

With Tim Walz on the Democratic ticket, Minnesota Republicans have also hopped on the attention wave. Dana Ferguson reports current and former GOP lawmakers and candidates have offered up critiques of Walz’s leadership in national TV interviews, in print and on Capitol Hill. Local conservatives on social media have seen their follower counts boom by picking at Walz’s track record. U.S. Rep. Pete Stauber, often mentioned as a possible 2026 candidate for governor, has been blasting his criticisms of Walz in press releases, public appearances and with conservative media. Former Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka is out with a book on his interactions with Walz, where he questions the governor’s handling of crises.

Candidate Walz met with the families of Americans held hostage by Hamas in Gaza yesterday. It was the first meeting between Walz and the families, taking place at a time when hostage and ceasefire negotiations are deadlocked. During the meetings, Walz emphasized he and Vice President Harris would do everything possible to secure their release, as well as the remains of American hostages killed by Hamas. The meeting took place on the same day the Uncommitted National Movement, a pro-Palestinian group, said it won’t endorse Vice President Harris.

Emails obtained by ProPublica and the Minnesota Reformer reveal a deeper look at Walz’s role in trying to enact police law changes in response to the police killings of George Floyd and Daunte Wright. Walz saw an opening to bring police accountability changes to Minnesota after the two murders, but feared the 2021 legislative session could be his last chance to do so. The emails, covering about 11 weeks from April to June 2021, look at how Walz tried to level his executive influence over the legislative process, balancing relationships with activists and progressives in his party and pro law-enforcement Republicans. In the end, Walz emerged from the 2021 special legislative session with a bill that pleased no one. Read more about the emails here.

Walz is intensifying his debate preparations with Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg playing Sen. JD Vance ahead of the Oct. 1 showdown. Buttigieg performed a similar role for Kamala Harris in 2020, where he acted as then-Vice President Mike Pence in mock debate sessions. The Washington Post reports Buttigieg has been helping Walz’s debate team via video call, but made an in-person visit to Minneapolis on Wednesday. Walz’s debate prep team is being run by a group of campaign advisers, including longtime Walz aide Chris Schmitter.

Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris got some star power help in a Michigan event featuring Oprah Winfrey that was viewed virtually by hundreds of thousands of people. Talking with Oprah, Harris recounted the sudden ballot switch that propelled her to the presidential nomination when President Joe Biden ended his reelection bid. “I felt a sense of responsibility, to be honest with you, and with that comes a sense of purpose,” Harris said.

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, meanwhile, was in Washington. Trump met with Jewish donors and to address the Israel-American Council. He told one of the gatherings that he’d be a steadfast ally. “My promise to Jewish Americans is this: With your vote, I will be your defender, your protector, and I will be the best friend Jewish Americans have ever had in the White House,” Trump said.

North Carolina’s Republican nominee for governor allegedly made dozens of disturbing comments on a porn forum more than a decade ago. The comments exposed in a CNN investigation yesterday revealed that Mark Robinson reportedly referred to himself as a “Black Nazi” and expressed support for reinstating slavery. He denied being the poster despite CNN’s steps to trace the account to him. Despite recent use of anti-transgender rhetoric, Robinson is accused of saying on the forum that he enjoys watching transgender porn and referred to himself as a “perv.” The comments in question were posted before Robinson’s entry into politics. He also is said to have made comments about abortion on the forum that are out of line with his support for an abortion ban. The story broke just hours before North Carolina’s gubernatorial candidate withdrawal deadline.