Tester’s Fight for Political Survival Is Democrats’ Last Stand on the Great Plains

The New York Times ^ | Oct. 12, 2024, 5:02 a.m. ET | Carl Hulse

[E. Pluribus Unum]

When Senator Max Baucus, a Democrat and political fixture in Montana, was re-elected to a sixth term in 2008, all of the statewide offices down the ballot — governor, attorney general, secretary of state, state auditor and school superintendent — were won by fellow Democrats. A sole Republican took the state’s single seat in the House of Representatives.

Things are much different today.

“If Tester loses, all those will be Republicans,” Mr. Baucus said, referring to Senator Jon Tester, a Democrat who is battling to hold on to his seat there in one of the country’s most pivotal contests, “That’s a dramatic shift.”

It is not just Montana. Other states on the Great Plains — once bastions of progressive prairie populism — have experienced stark partisan upheaval in their congressional delegations over the past two decades, shifting almost completely out of reach for Democrats.

Just 20 years ago, two Democratic senators represented both North Dakota and South Dakota — including the party’s Senate leader. Each state also boasted a Democratic House member. Nebraska had a Democratic senator and only a few years earlier had two. Today, those states are represented in Congress entirely by Republicans.

“It is a constituency I don’t even recognize in some cases,” said Byron Dorgan, a former Democratic senator from North Dakota who retired in 2010 after three terms in the Senate and 11 statewide election wins. “The people elected me for 30 years to the House and Senate, and I don’t think that constituency would have ever considered someone like Donald Trump to be elevated to the White House.”

[E. Pluribus Unum]

“It is a constituency I don’t even recognize in some cases,” said Byron Dorgan, a former Democratic senator from North Dakota who retired in 2010 after three terms in the Senate and 11 statewide election wins. “The people elected me for 30 years to the House and Senate, and I don’t think that constituency would have ever considered someone like Donald Trump to be elevated to the White House.”

That was before Democrats went full Marxist/Communist/DEI/BLM, Dummy.

[Disambiguator]

This.

[Governor Dinwiddie]

Wyoming dumped their "democrat" representative Liz Cheney.

[norcal joe]

How much does the NYTimes pay you to post all their crap every day?

I actually hate to read FR these days because I have to see all these headlines every time.

[SauronOfMordor]

Redistribution of wealth sounds great.

Until you realize that YOUR wealth is what they want to redistribute!

[SauronOfMordor]

I think it’s great that we find out what the elites are trying to push.

[Jacquerie]

Know thy enemy.

[Bookshelf]

E. Pluribus. If I wanted to read the NYSlimes I’d subscribe. Why don’t you back off.

[Jacquerie]

Why don’t you back off.

[Nervous Tick]

Why don’t y’all do even minimal research? E Pluribus Unum is neither a newbie, nor a troll, nor a single source poster.

I join the others who say “know thy enemy”. I welcome posts like the OP. If they trigger you, don’t read them.

[Bookshelf]

Know thy enemy is one thing. Love thy enemy is another entirely.

[Nervous Tick]

Show me evidence that the poster loves NYT.

[going hot]

Unless somone holds a gun to your head and forces you to click onto threads and read them from end to end, you have the option to scroll on by.

Use it, and the bp stays in the low numbers.

Trust me, I know!

[E. Pluribus Unum]

E. Pluribus. If I wanted to read the NYSlimes I’d subscribe. Why don’t you back off.

Rush Limbaugh spent most of his shows discussing content from NYT, WaPo, LAT, etc. Was he wrong to do that? I miss Rush's insight and get bored reading things I agree with all the time, so I post articles that Rush probably would have discussed. If you don’t like them, don’t click on them. Lots of people are interested in them, judging from the number of comments the articles get.

[Mogger]

Remember Patton's quote after defeating Rommel:

You magnificent bastard, I read your book!"

Know our enemy. Hate the Times, read the Times.

[Bookshelf]

Your analogy fails. Rommel’s work was genuine. The NYTimes articles are not.

[Wallace T.]

Rural white voters, except in college towns or hippie enclaves like much of Vermont or parts of coastal California, have turned against the Democrats. There are counties in Texas, Oklahoma, and Missouri where Democrats regularly receive less than 20% of the vote. The “yellow dog” Democrats in such places are no longer with us. The downside is the liberal trends in suburban counties. Orange County, California and the counties around Chicago, New York, Atlanta, and Philadelphia are prime examples of the leftward drift of suburban voters.