We’ve been reporting for close to a week that Minnesota, the bluest of blue states, which has voted for the Democratic candidate in every election since 1976, is very much in play for Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan. Today, we got statistical confirmation that is the case via an American Future Fund poll. From the polling memo:
1. The Presidential ballot in Minnesota is a dead heat.
Mitt Romney has a one point lead on the ballot (46% Romney/45% Obama.). The demographics of the state clearly make Minnesota a battleground state.
2. Mitt Romney leads Independents by double digits.
As we are seeing across the country, Romney’s lead in the state is driven by Independent voters (49% Romney/36% Obama). Due to his consistent advantage with Independents, Romney leads or is tied with the President across the battleground states – even those that traditionally lean Democratic.
The findings of this poll comport with the non-statistical campaign trends for the state. The Democrats felt it necessary to send top-surrogate Bill Clinton to the Land of 10,000 Lakes earlier this week, and Paul Ryan will be campaigning there tomorrow.
Committing these resources to a state that should be automatic for Obama/Biden is a very encouraging sign for the Republicans three days out from the election.
The poll was conducted Tuesday and Wednesday of last week, and data was collected from 500 likely voters.
Alexander Marlow is Managing Editor of Breitbart News. Follow him on twitter @alexmarlow.