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Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are unlikely to show up at State Fair this year, but their supporters are making the case to fairgoers — whether they want to hear it or not. 

Inside the Minnesota DFL booth, U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar was giving a pep talk to party faithful on first day at the fair.


Klobuchar is not on the ballot this year. That gives her plenty of time to talk up the presidential candidacy of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, along with some criticism of Republican nominee Donald Trump.


"I feel like our base of our party right now knows the arguments," she said. "And I feel like the independent voters, as you see from the polls, are starting to say 'I don't want to take a risk on someone who has a temperament like Donald Trump.'"


Also at the DFL booth, fairgoers were posing for photos with life-size cutouts of Clinton, President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama.


The Republican Party of Minnesota had its own set of cutouts for photos. One is of Clinton, but this time she's dressed in black-and-white-striped jail house garb. 

 
"We try to have a little bit of fun with things here at the booth, and we are really emphasizing this year the solutions that Republicans are offering," said Minnesota Republican Party Chair Keith Downey.

"People are very nervous about what's been going on in Washington, D.C., and we have an outsider candidate who has connected with everyday people in a way that Republicans haven't in a long time," he said.


Candidates were a little hard to find on the morning of opening day, but Republican Fifth District Congressional candidate Frank Drake was busy shaking hands at the front of the GOP booth.


Drake, a political newcomer who's challenging incumbent DFL Rep. Keith Ellison, said he plans to spend several days campaigning at the fair. He said it's is a good way to introduce himself to voters.


"What I'm running up against is people don't know who I am," he said. "They don't know that there's an opposition to Keith Ellison. If they knew they had a choice, they might say 'I'm for that guy. I'm for the Drake.'"


Candidates tend to like the State Fair because they can meet a lot of people in one place. They also like the timing of the fair at the end of summer. 


DFL House Minority Leader Paul Thissen of Minneapolis paused on a relatively quiet fairgrounds corner to explain how the campaign season traditionally moves into a different phase at fair time.


"I mean I think there are two things," he said. "There's the State Fair and people going back to school. That's when people start directing their attention to the business of the election coming up. So, this really is a turning point. People are more engaged. They are more willing to kind of talk about specific issues instead of just getting to know the candidate."

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Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are unlikely to show up at State Fair this year, but their supporters are making the case to fairgoers, whether they want to hear it or not.

It wouldn't be the State Fair without plenty of politics

Clinton cutouts at the DFL booth and GOP booth.

It wouldn't be the State Fair without plenty of politics

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