");vwo_$('head').append(_vwo_sel);return vwo_$('head')[0] && vwo_$('head')[0].lastChild;})("HEAD")}}, R_940895_61_1_2_2:{ fn:function(log,nonce=''){return (function(x) { if(!vwo_$.fn.vwoRevertHtml){ return; }; var el,ctx=vwo_$(x); /*vwo_debug log("Revert","editElement","#tfa_81-L > b:nth-of-type(1)"); vwo_debug*/(el=vwo_$("#tfa_81-L > b:nth-of-type(1)")).vwoRevertHtml();})("#tfa_81-L > b:nth-of-type(1)")}}, C_940895_55_1_2_0:{ fn:function(log,nonce=''){return (function(x) {var el,ctx=vwo_$(x); /*vwo_debug log("remove","H1:tm('Support MPR News Today!')"); vwo_debug*/(el=vwo_$("H1:tm('Support MPR News Today!')")).vwoCss({display:"none !important"});})("H1:tm('Support MPR News Today!')")}}, R_940895_55_1_2_0:{ fn:function(log,nonce=''){return (function(x) { if(!vwo_$.fn.vwoRevertHtml){ return; }; var el,ctx=vwo_$(x); /*vwo_debug log("Revert","remove","H1:tm('Support MPR News Today!')"); vwo_debug*/(el=vwo_$("H1:tm('Support MPR News Today!')")).vwoRevertCss();})("H1:tm('Support MPR News Today!')")}}, C_940895_61_1_2_3:{ fn:function(log,nonce=''){return (function(x) {var el,ctx=vwo_$(x); /*vwo_debug log("editElement","#tfa_93-L > b:nth-of-type(1)"); vwo_debug*/(el=vwo_$("#tfa_93-L > b:nth-of-type(1)")).html("4. How do you primarily access MPR?");})("#tfa_93-L > b:nth-of-type(1)")}}, R_940895_61_1_2_3:{ fn:function(log,nonce=''){return (function(x) { if(!vwo_$.fn.vwoRevertHtml){ return; }; var el,ctx=vwo_$(x); /*vwo_debug log("Revert","editElement","#tfa_93-L > b:nth-of-type(1)"); vwo_debug*/(el=vwo_$("#tfa_93-L > b:nth-of-type(1)")).vwoRevertHtml();})("#tfa_93-L > b:nth-of-type(1)")}}, C_940895_61_1_2_4:{ fn:function(log,nonce=''){return (function(x) {var el,ctx=vwo_$(x); /*vwo_debug log("editElement","#tfa_102-L > b:nth-of-type(1)"); vwo_debug*/(el=vwo_$("#tfa_102-L > b:nth-of-type(1)")).html("5. Which topics or issues are you most interested in hearing about on MPR?");})("#tfa_102-L > b:nth-of-type(1)")}}, C_940895_63_1_2_0:{ fn:function(log,nonce=''){return (function(x) {var el,ctx=vwo_$(x); /*vwo_debug log("paste",".actions"); vwo_debug*/!(el=vwo_$(".actions")).parent().find('[vwo-op-1742589780926=""]').length&&el.after('


By submitting, you consent to receive information about MPR\'s programs and offerings. You may opt-out at any time clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom of any email communication. View our Privacy Policy.

'),(el=vwo_$("#tfa_31-HTML > p:nth-of-type(1)")).vwoCss({display:"none !important"});})(".hintsBelow")}}, R_940895_63_1_2_0:{ fn:function(log,nonce=''){return (function(x) { if(!vwo_$.fn.vwoRevertHtml){ return; }; var el,ctx=vwo_$(x); /*vwo_debug log("Revert","remove","#tfa_31-HTML > p:nth-of-type(1)"); vwo_debug*/(el=vwo_$("#tfa_31-HTML > p:nth-of-type(1)")).vwoRevertCss(),(el=vwo_$('[vwo-element-id="1742589780114"]')).remove();})(".hintsBelow")}}, C_940895_16_1_2_0:{ fn:function(log,nonce=''){return (function(x) { try{ var _vwo_sel = vwo_$("`); !vwo_$("head").find('#1738257835657').length && vwo_$('head').append(_vwo_sel);}catch(e) {console.error(e)} try{}catch(e) {console.error(e)} try{const DEAR_READER_HEADING_HTML="

Dear reader,

",DEAR_READER_BODY_HTML="\n

Political debates with family or friends can get heated. But what if there was a way to handle them better?

\n

You can learn how to have civil political conversations with our new e-book!

\n

Download our free e-book, Talking Sense: Have Hard Political Conversations, Better, and learn how to talk without the tension.

\n",DEAR_READER_CTA_TEXT="Get your free ebook »",DEAR_READER_CTA_LINK="https://cloud.connect.mpr.org/mprnews-cfw03-01-talking-sense?utm_campaign=cfw_talkingsense&utm_term=dearreader_co";!function(){const e=async function(r,t=100,n=1e4){t=Number.isInteger(t)&&t>0&&t<=100?t:parseInt(t);let a="Array";if("NaN"==t)return console.error("Invalid refresh interval:",t);Array.isArray(r)||"string"!=typeof r||(a="string",r=[r]);let o=e=>document.querySelector(e),i=e=>e.every(e=>!!o(e));return new Promise((l,s)=>{let c=(e,r=null)=>(r&&clearInterval(r),l("Array"==a||e.length>1?e.map(e=>o(e)):o(e[0]))),d=a=>{console.error(`${a.name}: ${a.message}`);return s(a,()=>e(r,t=100,n=1e4))};try{if(i(r))return c(r);let e=setInterval(()=>{if(i(r))return c(r,e)},1e3/t);setTimeout(()=>{try{if(!i(r)){clearInterval(e);let r=Error(`Failed to find matching elements within ${n}ms`);throw r.name="Timed Out",r}}catch(e){return d(e)}},n)}catch(e){return d(e)}})};e("article").then(e=>{e.insertAdjacentHTML("beforeend",`
\n
\n

Dear reader,

\n ${DEAR_READER_BODY_HTML}\n \n \n \n
\n
`)})}();}catch(e) {console.error(e)} return vwo_$('head')[0] && vwo_$('head')[0].lastChild;})("head")}}, R_940895_16_1_2_0:{ fn:function(log,nonce=''){return (function(x) { try{ var ctx=vwo_$(x),el; /*vwo_debug log("Revert","content",""); vwo_debug*/; el=vwo_$('[vwo-element-id="1738257835657"]'); el.revertContentOp().remove(); } catch(e) {console.error(e)} try{ var el,ctx=vwo_$(x); /*vwo_debug log("Revert","addElement","body"); vwo_debug*/(el=vwo_$('[vwo-element-id="1738257835659"]')).remove(); } catch(e) {console.error(e)} return vwo_$('head')[0] && vwo_$('head')[0].lastChild;})("head")}}},rules:[{"triggers":["10589191"],"tags":[{"data":"campaigns.54","priority":4,"id":"runCampaign"},{"data":"campaigns.55","priority":4,"id":"runCampaign"},{"data":"campaigns.48","priority":4,"id":"runCampaign"},{"data":"campaigns.61","priority":4,"id":"runCampaign"},{"data":"campaigns.62","priority":4,"id":"runCampaign"},{"data":"campaigns.64","priority":4,"id":"runCampaign"},{"data":"campaigns.16","priority":4,"id":"runCampaign"},{"data":"campaigns.63","priority":4,"id":"runCampaign"}]},{"triggers":["8536415"],"tags":[{"data":{"type":"m","campaigns":[{"g":3,"c":54}]},"id":"metric","metricId":959033},{"data":{"type":"m","campaigns":[{"g":2,"c":55}]},"id":"metric","metricId":959033},{"data":{"type":"m","campaigns":[{"g":3,"c":48}]},"id":"metric","metricId":959033},{"data":{"type":"m","campaigns":[{"g":2,"c":61}]},"id":"metric","metricId":959033},{"data":{"type":"m","campaigns":[{"g":1,"c":62}]},"id":"metric","metricId":959033},{"data":{"type":"m","campaigns":[{"g":2,"c":39}]},"id":"metric","metricId":959033},{"data":{"type":"m","campaigns":[{"g":2,"c":64}]},"id":"metric","metricId":959033},{"data":{"type":"m","campaigns":[{"g":3,"c":16}]},"id":"metric","metricId":959033},{"data":{"type":"m","campaigns":[{"g":2,"c":63}]},"id":"metric","metricId":959033}]},{"triggers":["12454059"],"tags":[{"data":{"type":"g","campaigns":[{"g":6,"c":39}]},"id":"metric","metricId":0}]},{"triggers":["12454053"],"tags":[{"data":"campaigns.39","priority":4,"id":"runCampaign"}]},{"triggers":["8536409"],"tags":[{"data":{"type":"m","campaigns":[{"g":4,"c":54}]},"id":"metric","metricId":959027},{"data":{"type":"m","campaigns":[{"g":4,"c":55}]},"id":"metric","metricId":959027},{"data":{"type":"m","campaigns":[{"g":5,"c":48}]},"id":"metric","metricId":959027},{"data":{"type":"m","campaigns":[{"g":4,"c":61}]},"id":"metric","metricId":959027},{"data":{"type":"m","campaigns":[{"g":3,"c":62}]},"id":"metric","metricId":959027},{"data":{"type":"m","campaigns":[{"g":3,"c":39}]},"id":"metric","metricId":959027},{"data":{"type":"m","campaigns":[{"g":4,"c":64}]},"id":"metric","metricId":959027},{"data":{"type":"m","campaigns":[{"g":1,"c":16}]},"id":"metric","metricId":959027},{"data":{"type":"m","campaigns":[{"g":4,"c":63}]},"id":"metric","metricId":959027}]},{"triggers":["12454062"],"tags":[{"data":{"type":"g","campaigns":[{"g":7,"c":39}]},"id":"metric","metricId":0}]},{"triggers":["8639604"],"tags":[{"data":{"type":"m","campaigns":[{"g":5,"c":54}]},"id":"metric","metricId":951908},{"data":{"type":"m","campaigns":[{"g":5,"c":55}]},"id":"metric","metricId":951908},{"data":{"type":"m","campaigns":[{"g":1,"c":48}]},"id":"metric","metricId":951908},{"data":{"type":"m","campaigns":[{"g":1,"c":61}]},"id":"metric","metricId":951908},{"data":{"type":"m","campaigns":[{"g":4,"c":62}]},"id":"metric","metricId":951908},{"data":{"type":"m","campaigns":[{"g":1,"c":64}]},"id":"metric","metricId":951908},{"data":{"type":"m","campaigns":[{"g":6,"c":16}]},"id":"metric","metricId":951908},{"data":{"type":"m","campaigns":[{"g":1,"c":63}]},"id":"metric","metricId":951908}]},{"triggers":["12639747"],"tags":[{"data":{"type":"g","campaigns":[{"g":5,"c":16}]},"id":"metric","metricId":0}]},{"triggers":["12454056"],"tags":[{"data":{"type":"g","campaigns":[{"g":5,"c":39}]},"id":"metric","metricId":0}]},{"triggers":["8459768"],"tags":[{"data":{"type":"m","campaigns":[{"g":1,"c":54}]},"id":"metric","metricId":951905},{"data":{"type":"m","campaigns":[{"g":1,"c":55}]},"id":"metric","metricId":951905},{"data":{"type":"m","campaigns":[{"g":2,"c":48}]},"id":"metric","metricId":951905},{"data":{"type":"m","campaigns":[{"g":5,"c":61}]},"id":"metric","metricId":951905},{"data":{"type":"m","campaigns":[{"g":5,"c":62}]},"id":"metric","metricId":951905},{"data":{"type":"m","campaigns":[{"g":4,"c":39}]},"id":"metric","metricId":951905},{"data":{"type":"m","campaigns":[{"g":5,"c":64}]},"id":"metric","metricId":951905},{"data":{"type":"m","campaigns":[{"g":2,"c":16}]},"id":"metric","metricId":951905},{"data":{"type":"m","campaigns":[{"g":5,"c":63}]},"id":"metric","metricId":951905}]},{"triggers":["8536412"],"tags":[{"data":{"type":"m","campaigns":[{"g":2,"c":54}]},"id":"metric","metricId":959030},{"data":{"type":"m","campaigns":[{"g":3,"c":55}]},"id":"metric","metricId":959030},{"data":{"type":"m","campaigns":[{"g":4,"c":48}]},"id":"metric","metricId":959030},{"data":{"type":"m","campaigns":[{"g":3,"c":61}]},"id":"metric","metricId":959030},{"data":{"type":"m","campaigns":[{"g":2,"c":62}]},"id":"metric","metricId":959030},{"data":{"type":"m","campaigns":[{"g":1,"c":39}]},"id":"metric","metricId":959030},{"data":{"type":"m","campaigns":[{"g":3,"c":64}]},"id":"metric","metricId":959030},{"data":{"type":"m","campaigns":[{"g":4,"c":16}]},"id":"metric","metricId":959030},{"data":{"type":"m","campaigns":[{"g":3,"c":63}]},"id":"metric","metricId":959030}]},{"triggers":["8"],"tags":[{"priority":3,"id":"prePostMutation"},{"priority":2,"id":"groupCampaigns"}]},{"triggers":["9"],"tags":[{"priority":2,"id":"visibilityService"}]},{"triggers":["2"],"tags":[{"id":"runTestCampaign"}]},{"triggers":["75"],"tags":[{"id":"urlChange"}]},{"triggers":["5"],"tags":[{"id":"checkEnvironment"}]}],pages:{"pc":[{"141375":{"inc":["o",["url","urlReg","(?i)^https?\\:\\\/\\\/(w{3}\\.)?mprnews\\.org\\\/story.*"],["url","urlReg","(?i)^https?\\:\\\/\\\/(w{3}\\.)?mprnews\\.org\\\/episode.*"]]}}],"ec":[{"1625289":{"inc":["o",["url","urlReg","(?i).*"]]}},{"2121531":{"inc":["o",["pg","eq","141375"]]}}]},pagesEval:{"pc":[141375],"ec":[1625289,2121531]},stags:{}}})(); ;;var commonWrapper=function(argument){if(!argument){argument={valuesGetter:function(){return{}},valuesSetter:function(){},verifyData:function(){return{}}}}const getVisitorUuid=function(){if(window._vwo_acc_id>=1037725){return window.VWO&&window.VWO.get("visitor.id")}else{return window.VWO._&&window.VWO._.cookies&&window.VWO._.cookies.get("_vwo_uuid")}};var pollInterval=100;var timeout=6e4;return function(){var accountIntegrationSettings={};var _interval=null;function waitForAnalyticsVariables(){try{accountIntegrationSettings=argument.valuesGetter();accountIntegrationSettings.visitorUuid=getVisitorUuid()}catch(error){accountIntegrationSettings=undefined}if(accountIntegrationSettings&&argument.verifyData(accountIntegrationSettings)){argument.valuesSetter(accountIntegrationSettings);return 1}return 0}var currentTime=0;_interval=setInterval((function(){currentTime=currentTime||performance.now();var result=waitForAnalyticsVariables();if(result||performance.now()-currentTime>=timeout){clearInterval(_interval)}}),pollInterval)}}; var pushBasedCommonWrapper=function(argument){var firedCamp={};if(!argument){argument={integrationName:"",getExperimentList:function(){},accountSettings:function(){},pushData:function(){}}}return function(){window.VWO=window.VWO||[];const getVisitorUuid=function(){if(window._vwo_acc_id>=1037725){return window.VWO&&window.VWO.get("visitor.id")}else{return window.VWO._&&window.VWO._.cookies&&window.VWO._.cookies.get("_vwo_uuid")}};var sendDebugLogsOld=function(expId,variationId,errorType,user_type,data){try{var errorPayload={f:argument["integrationName"]||"",a:window._vwo_acc_id,url:window.location.href,exp:expId,v:variationId,vwo_uuid:getVisitorUuid(),user_type:user_type};if(errorType=="initIntegrationCallback"){errorPayload["log_type"]="initIntegrationCallback";errorPayload["data"]=JSON.stringify(data||"")}else if(errorType=="timeout"){errorPayload["timeout"]=true}if(window.VWO._.customError){window.VWO._.customError({msg:"integration debug",url:window.location.href,lineno:"",colno:"",source:JSON.stringify(errorPayload)})}}catch(e){window.VWO._.customError&&window.VWO._.customError({msg:"integration debug failed",url:"",lineno:"",colno:"",source:""})}};var sendDebugLogs=function(expId,variationId,errorType,user_type){var eventName="vwo_debugLogs";var eventPayload={};try{eventPayload={intName:argument["integrationName"]||"",varId:variationId,expId:expId,type:errorType,vwo_uuid:getVisitorUuid(),user_type:user_type};if(window.VWO._.event){window.VWO._.event(eventName,eventPayload,{enableLogs:1})}}catch(e){eventPayload={msg:"integration event log failed",url:window.location.href};window.VWO._.event&&window.VWO._.event(eventName,eventPayload)}};const callbackFn=function(data){if(!data)return;var expId=data[1],variationId=data[2],repeated=data[0],singleCall=0,debug=0;var experimentList=argument.getExperimentList();var integrationName=argument["integrationName"]||"vwo";if(typeof argument.accountSettings==="function"){var accountSettings=argument.accountSettings();if(accountSettings){singleCall=accountSettings["singleCall"];debug=accountSettings["debug"]}}if(debug){sendDebugLogs(expId,variationId,"intCallTriggered",repeated)}if(singleCall&&(repeated==="vS"||repeated==="vSS")||firedCamp[expId]){return}window.expList=window.expList||{};var expList=window.expList[integrationName]=window.expList[integrationName]||[];if(expId&&variationId&&["VISUAL_AB","VISUAL","SPLIT_URL"].indexOf(_vwo_exp[expId].type)>-1){if(experimentList.indexOf(+expId)!==-1){firedCamp[expId]=variationId;var visitorUuid=getVisitorUuid();var pollInterval=100;var currentTime=0;var timeout=6e4;var user_type=_vwo_exp[expId].exec?"vwo-retry":"vwo-new";var interval=setInterval((function(){if(expList.indexOf(expId)!==-1){clearInterval(interval);return}currentTime=currentTime||performance.now();var toClearInterval=argument.pushData(expId,variationId,visitorUuid);if(debug&&toClearInterval){sendDebugLogsOld(expId,variationId,"",user_type);sendDebugLogs(expId,variationId,"intDataPushed",user_type)}var isTimeout=performance.now()-currentTime>=timeout;if(isTimeout&&debug){sendDebugLogsOld(expId,variationId,"timeout",user_type);sendDebugLogs(expId,variationId,"intTimeout",user_type)}if(toClearInterval||isTimeout){clearInterval(interval)}if(toClearInterval){window.expList[integrationName].push(expId)}}),pollInterval||100)}}};window.VWO.push(["onVariationApplied",callbackFn]);window.VWO.push(["onVariationShownSent",callbackFn])}}; var surveyDataCommonWrapper=function(argument){if(!argument){argument={getCampaignList:function(){return[]},surveyStatusChange:function(){},answerSubmitted:function(){}}}return function(){window.VWO=window.VWO||[];function getValuesFromAnswers(answers){var values=[];for(var i=0;i=timeout;if(toClearInterval||isTimeout){clearInterval(interval)}}),pollInterval)}}window.VWO.push(["onSurveyShown",function(data){commonSurveyCallback(data,argument.surveyStatusChange,"surveyShown")}]);window.VWO.push(["onSurveyCompleted",function(data){commonSurveyCallback(data,argument.surveyStatusChange,"surveyCompleted")}]);window.VWO.push(["onSurveyAnswerSubmitted",function(data){commonSurveyCallback(data,argument.answerSubmitted,"surveySubmitted")}])}}; (function(){var VWOOmniTemp={};window.VWOOmni=window.VWOOmni||{};for(var key in VWOOmniTemp)Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(VWOOmniTemp,key)&&(window.VWOOmni[key]=VWOOmniTemp[key]);;})();(function(){window.VWO=window.VWO||[];var pollInterval=100;var _vis_data={};var intervalObj={};var analyticsTimerObj={};var experimentListObj={};window.VWO.push(["onVariationApplied",function(data){if(!data){return}var expId=data[1],variationId=data[2];if(expId&&variationId&&["VISUAL_AB","VISUAL","SPLIT_URL"].indexOf(window._vwo_exp[expId].type)>-1){}}])})();; ;var vD=VWO.data||{};VWO.data={content:{"fns":{"list":{"args":{"1":{}},"vn":1}}},as:"r4.visualwebsiteoptimizer.com",dacdnUrl:"https://dev.visualwebsiteoptimizer.com",accountJSInfo:{"noSS":false,"pc":{"a":0,"t":0},"rp":30,"ts":1743607341}};for(var k in vD){VWO.data[k]=vD[k]};;var gcpfb=function(a,loadFunc,status,err,success){function vwoErr() {_vwo_err({message:"Google_Cdn failing for " + a + ". Trying Fallback..",code:"cloudcdnerr",status:status});} if(a.indexOf("/cdn/")!==-1){loadFunc(a.replace("cdn/",""),err,success); vwoErr(); return true;} else if(a.indexOf("/dcdn/")!==-1&&a.indexOf("evad.js") !== -1){loadFunc(a.replace("dcdn/",""),err,success); vwoErr(); return true;}};window.VWO=window.VWO || [];window.VWO._= window.VWO._ || {};window.VWO._.gcpfb=gcpfb;;var d={cookie:document.cookie,URL:document.URL,referrer:document.referrer};var w={VWO:{_:{}},location:{href:window.location.href,search:window.location.search},_vwoCc:window._vwoCc};;window._vwo_cdn="https://dev.visualwebsiteoptimizer.com/cdn/";window._vwo_apm_debug_cdn="https://dev.visualwebsiteoptimizer.com/cdn/";window.VWO._.useCdn=true;window.vwo_eT="br";window._VWO=window._VWO||{};window._VWO.fSeg={};window._VWO.dcdnUrl="/dcdn/settings.js";window.VWO.sTs=1743594862;window._VWO._vis_nc_lib=window._vwo_cdn+"edrv/nc-e76f33e8accfa6859749db0f9a4d4230br.js";var loadWorker=function(url){_vwo_code.load(url, { dSC: true, onloadCb: function(xhr,a){window._vwo_wt_l=true;if(xhr.status===200 ||xhr.status===304){var code="var window="+JSON.stringify(w)+",document="+JSON.stringify(d)+";window.document=document;"+xhr.responseText;var blob=new Blob([code||"throw new Error('code not found!');"],{type:"application/javascript"}),url=URL.createObjectURL(blob);window.mainThread={webWorker:new Worker(url)};window.vwoChannelFW=new MessageChannel();window.vwoChannelToW=new MessageChannel();window.mainThread.webWorker.postMessage({vwoChannelToW:vwoChannelToW.port1,vwoChannelFW:vwoChannelFW.port2},[vwoChannelToW.port1, vwoChannelFW.port2]);if(!window._vwo_mt_f)return window._vwo_wt_f=true;_vwo_code.addScript({text:window._vwo_mt_f});delete window._vwo_mt_f}else{if(gcpfb(a,loadWorker,xhr.status)){return;}_vwo_code.finish("&e=loading_failure:"+a)}}, onerrorCb: function(a){if(gcpfb(a,loadWorker)){return;}window._vwo_wt_l=true;_vwo_code.finish("&e=loading_failure:"+a);}})};loadWorker("https://dev.visualwebsiteoptimizer.com/cdn/edrv/worker-1135852b6bc11a94eb64017a8d120ad8br.js");;var _vis_opt_file;var _vis_opt_lib;if(window.VWO._.allSettings.dataStore.previewExtraSettings!=undefined&&window.VWO._.allSettings.dataStore.previewExtraSettings.isSurveyPreviewMode){var surveyHash=window.VWO._.allSettings.dataStore.plugins.LIBINFO.SURVEY_DEBUG_EVENTS.HASH;var param1="evad.js?va=";var param2="&d=debugger_new";var param3="&sp=1&a=940895&sh="+surveyHash;_vis_opt_file=vwoCode.use_existing_jquery&&typeof vwoCode.use_existing_jquery()!=="undefined"?vwoCode.use_existing_jquery()?param1+"vanj"+param2:param1+"va_gq"+param2:param1+"edrv/va_gq-a062e7c4223b2b89f5cddb5055816677br.js"+param2;_vis_opt_file=_vis_opt_file+param3;_vis_opt_lib="https://dev.visualwebsiteoptimizer.com/dcdn/"+_vis_opt_file}else if(window.VWO._.allSettings.dataStore.mode!=undefined&&window.VWO._.allSettings.dataStore.mode=="PREVIEW"){ var path1 = 'edrv/pd_'; var path2 = window.VWO._.allSettings.dataStore.plugins.LIBINFO.EVAD.HASH + ".js"; ;_vis_opt_file=vwoCode.use_existing_jquery&&typeof vwoCode.use_existing_jquery()!=="undefined"?vwoCode.use_existing_jquery()?path1+"vanj"+path2:path1+"va_gq"+path2:path1+"edrv/va_gq-a062e7c4223b2b89f5cddb5055816677br.js"+path2;_vis_opt_lib="https://dev.visualwebsiteoptimizer.com/cdn/"+_vis_opt_file}else{_vis_opt_file=vwoCode.use_existing_jquery&&typeof vwoCode.use_existing_jquery()!=="undefined"?vwoCode.use_existing_jquery()?"edrv/vanj-55389bda300ad24b514d62f335aa126abr.js":"edrv/va_gq-a062e7c4223b2b89f5cddb5055816677br.js":"edrv/va_gq-a062e7c4223b2b89f5cddb5055816677br.js"}window._vwo_library_timer=setTimeout((function(){vwoCode.removeLoaderAndOverlay&&vwoCode.removeLoaderAndOverlay();vwoCode.finish()}),vwoCode.library_tolerance&&typeof vwoCode.library_tolerance()!=="undefined"?vwoCode.library_tolerance():2500),_vis_opt_lib=typeof _vis_opt_lib=="undefined"?window._vwo_cdn+_vis_opt_file:_vis_opt_lib;var loadLib=function(url){_vwo_code.load(url, { dSC: true, onloadCb:function(xhr,a){window._vwo_mt_l=true;if(xhr.status===200 || xhr.status===304){if(!window._vwo_wt_f)return window._vwo_mt_f=xhr.responseText;_vwo_code.addScript({text:xhr.responseText});delete window._vwo_wt_f;}else{if(gcpfb(a,loadLib,xhr.status)){return;}_vwo_code.finish("&e=loading_failure:"+a);}}, onerrorCb: function(a){if(gcpfb(a,loadLib)){return;}window._vwo_mt_l=true;_vwo_code.finish("&e=loading_failure:"+a);}})};loadLib(_vis_opt_lib);VWO.load_co=function(u,opts){return window._vwo_code.load(u,opts);};;;}}catch(e){_vwo_code.finish();_vwo_code.removeLoaderAndOverlay&&_vwo_code.removeLoaderAndOverlay();_vwo_err(e);window.VWO.caE=1}})();

Erik Paulsen endorses Mitt Romney for president

Erik Paulsen
Rep. Erik Paulsen was elected to the U.S. House in 2008. He represents much of suburban Hennepin County.
MPR Photo/Chris Kelleher

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -- Minnesota U.S. Rep. Erik Paulsen is endorsing Mitt Romney in the Republican presidential race.

Romney's campaign announced the endorsement Thursday. Paulsen is the first Minnesota Republican congressman to make an endorsement since Gov. Tim Pawlenty dropped out of the GOP field last August. Both Paulsen and U.S. Rep. John Kline had been supporting Pawlenty.

Minnesota U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann dropped out of the presidential race more recently. She says she does not plan to endorse a candidate prior to Minnesota's caucus on Feb. 7.

Paulsen was elected to the U.S. House in 2008. He represents much of suburban Hennepin County.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Dear reader,

The trustworthy and factual news you find here at MPR News relies on the generosity of readers like you.

Your donation ensures that our journalism remains available to all, connecting communities and facilitating better conversations for everyone.

Will you make a gift today to help keep this trusted new source accessible to all?

Volume Button
Volume
Now Listening To Livestream
Headshot of 1A host Jenn White
On Air
1A with Jenn White