Edina focus group part of series with swing voters in key states

The political views of Minnesotans were sampled this month in Edina as part of a series of focus groups with swing voters in key states.

Seven people who backed Barack Obama in 2012 and Donald Trump in 2016 and four who voted for Mitt Romney in 2012 and Hillary Clinton in 2016 were quizzed Aug. 5.

Asked how they feel when they watch Trump speak, three participants said "confident" and three said "embarrassed." Happy, supportive, critical, distrustful and disgusted were the responses from the rest.

Health care and immigration were mentioned most often when the Minnesotans named the top issues on their minds heading into the 2020 presidential election. Three cited immigration and five mentioned health care.

Health care came up again when voters were asked what candidates could propose that would help them economically. Others suggested sound trade deals, lower taxes, confronting climate change and reining in the federal budget.

Engagious and Focus Pointe Global led the focus group for Axios, a political news site, and posted video excerpts at engagious.com/swingvoters. Participants also were asked about guns and foreign policy.

The Swing Voter Project began March 9 in Wisconsin and has included voters in Ohio, Iowa, Pennsylvania and Michigan. Two more Minnesota sessions are planned in 2020: March 2 in Duluth and Aug. 3 in Ada.