Tolkkinen: America is ready for a woman president, but Kamala Harris still needs to win over rural Democrats

Kathy Draeger was at a family reunion on Sunday in Big Stone Camp for Christ in Ortonville, Minn., when someone checked their phone. Word spread. President Joe Biden had bowed out of the race.

Chatter immediately broke out as her family members speculated about who would replace him on the ticket. One wanted to see Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, team up with former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, a Republican who helped lead the Jan. 6 investigation. Draeger wondered if Robert F. Kennedy Jr. might be able to win his way back into the Democratic Party’s good graces.

Forty minutes later came an update: Biden had endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris.

“Nobody was like, over the top, ‘Yay! We’re all in on Kamala,’” said Draeger, a farmer and a resident of one of Minnesota’s westernmost counties. “My own personal opinion was we have no choice. But she’s been the vice president, it’ll be the least amount of chaos, and there’ll be money.”

Throughout greater Minnesota, people are talking about the presidential race. While a changed presidential ticket seems unlikely to change the vote, especially in conservative rural areas, it has still perked up voters who had been resigned to a divisive repeat of the 2020 match between two old white men. Instead, there’s a new opportunity to elect the nation’s first female president.

“There is a profound need for a changing of the guard,” said Brent Olson, a Big Stone County commissioner who is himself a white man nearing retirement. “Of course that will be uncomfortable — most progress is — but the world has changed.”

The news has sparked exhilaration, resignation and even anxiety in greater Minnesota. Many counties are still at least 90% white, and white men hold most local elected offices, from township boards to county commissions. A Democrat might not get their vote, but will a female candidate of color at least be treated respectfully? In parts of greater Minnesota, you can already spot gender slurs on political signs aimed at Harris. Will it get worse as the November election approaches, or will partisan bullies be able to restrain themselves?

State Sen. Nick Frentz of North Mankato said he does think that greater Minnesota is open to female officeholders. Mankato has its first female mayor in history, he pointed out — Najwa Massad, and she is also part Lebanese.

“I think America is ready for a woman president,” he told me. Frentz will be a Minnesota delegate to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, where he will support Harris’ nomination.

Things I’d like to hear from her:

· What are some of the steps she’s taken to reduce the flow of illegal immigration across our borders? Biden tasked her with addressing the poverty and violence that drive people to leave their homes and enter our country without permission. This isn’t as flashy as building a wall or sending mounted border guards to drive migrants back. But over the long term, if properly carried out, it could be more effective. The key here is that such efforts don’t solve the problem overnight, said Thomas Hanson, diplomat in residence at the University of Minnesota Duluth. “Even if you get some positive things going, it takes a long time for it to become clear,” he said. “That’s part of the problem with some of Biden’s economic policies, too. He’s done some structural things on the economy, especially bringing supply chains home. But the voter doesn’t feel the effect of those right away.”

· Where does Harris stand on the Israel-Gaza conflict, which has been a wedge issue for the Democratic Party? I’d like to see her call on Hamas to return all the Israeli captives, living and dead, who were taken during the Oct. 7 massacre, while also demanding an independent, Hamas-free state for Palestine. But if she appears too sympathetic to Israel, she may lose progressive and young voters, and if she appears too sympathetic to Palestine, she risks alienating moderate and older liberals. Still, she needs to define her stance on the issue.

· If elected, is she willing to reach out to the other side? Former President Donald Trump has been stunningly unwilling to do this, creating an environment where those on his side bask in his approval and the approval of all other MAGA Republicans, and if you’re not, they try their best to make your life a living hell. I don’t want this for America. Whoever the next occupant of the Oval Office, they would serve our country best by governing for all people, not only their party loyalists.