¡Sí, se puede!

For my blog post about the history that was created when our President Barack Obama visited the University of Minnesota to endorse Minnesota Governor candidate Mark Dayton, I wanted to avoid writing based on a generic article. But I wanted to use one that did not say too much about the history that was made when he visited. This is my job. (I am writing as if the people reading are my classmates.)

Read what I read here: http://www.startribune.com/local/105595703.html

Clearly, this visit was a big deal. Barack Obama is the current President of our country and he visited our very own college campus. His audience consisted of around 11,000 people and each person was there for a certain reason, whether it was to hear Mark Dayton, take pictures of Barack Obama, or just the simple fact that they would be able to say they were there.

Let's think of this situation in simpler terms. Obama traveled here to endorse a candidate of our state's election for a new Governor is very rare for a President to do. What are the odds that he would choose Minnesota to stop by on his campaign sweep and would choose Mark Dayton, specifically, as the candidate he would encourage voters to vote for? He claims to be showing his support for "Democrats in key races for Congress". He has been traveling for a while now and has made multiple stops. But what I am wondering is... why here?

We have had Presidents visit the University of Minnesota before, starting with Theodore Roosevelt in 1903, Howard Taft in 1911, and George W. Bush in 2002. None of the President's who visited before were here to endorse a Governor candidate.

This visit took place 10 days before the day that Minnesotans will be voting for a new Governor. It will most likely put Dayton in the lead. Is it really fair for such a strong political figure to give his opinion on who he thinks people should vote for? Tom Emmer is the republican candidate in this election for Governor. Is there any possible way that he could pull through in the end? Obama had such a strong influence on this election. Think of how different it would have been if a republican candidate came to endorse Tom Emmer, or maybe Barack Obama came to endorse Tom Emmer. We will see the results after the election.

Obama said many things that portrayed his opinion about Dayton. He says that Dayton has "spent his life fighting for Minnesota. And now I need all of you to fight for Mark Dayton." This is such a strong thing to say. Things like this that Obama could and probably will shift the way the election will go.