A Datapoint In Minnesota

A reader writes:

I just got back from visiting family in rural East Central Minnesota.

My parents had been very Republican in the 80s and 90s, even being active in the county Republican party. Disillusionment began to set in, though, in the late 90s and 2000s, and not just with the Republicans, but with the whole political system--"nothing changes no matter who's in charge".

Having personally bought into this presidential campaign to the point where I contributed money to a campaign for the first time in my life (and I'm in my mid-40s) I wanted to at least get a sense of where they were and maybe urge them to a little less disillusionment.

When I told them I'd contributed to Obama, my mother volunteered that she expected she'd vote for McCain, but she really kinda hoped Obama would win. I said what I could to encourage this, that it really looks like he wants to change the way politics have been done over the last two decades. Then she also told me that her sister-in-law had dropped in for a visit a couple weeks ago and told her "I don't care, I'm voting for Obama!".

These women are very white, in their 60s, raised poor, made it up to working-class with their husbands, and are all now retired. And now looking that they might help carry Minnesota for Obama in the fall.