Jon Tester is Western Democratic Montana, Senators, The Big Strategy

Congrats to Montana, Tester rolls over Morrison and has Burns in his path.

There is a lot to be said about how Conrad Burns will have a hard time against Jon Tester in the coming months, given the ditch he's driven himself into. But, Tester would have given him a fight even without Burns' self inflicted wounds.

Tester is what this website is all about, he is the Western Democrat:

In the mountains and ranchlands of the West, there are Democrats who understand real America. Out here, far from the nation's capital, there are Democrats who understand skepticism of the federal government. Out here, Americans will find Democrats comfortable in jeans and boots. In the West, we can find Democrats able to speak plainly in the language of real America.

As Matt Singer reflects last night:

But the idea that Tester only gets the support of die-hard lefties is a complete misnomer. At the Billings event yesterday, Tester had a noticeably large tent. He had Republicans crossing over to support him (both my Republican grandmother and my lean-Republican father are doing something rare for them: voting the D ballot this year). He had Dems of the more business-minded and conservative variety, like Senator Brent Cromley, there showing their support. And then he had a number of more liberal folks like myself down there.

The fact is that the difference between Tester and Morrison isn’t just ideological, although ideology is part of it. There’s also a huge cultural difference. Chuck Johnson recently portrayed this as stylistic — it’s not. It’s a part of these two men’s backgrounds, upbringing, and how they’ve lived their lives.

Jon Tester was raised a third-generation family farmer. His father and grandfather taught him how to work the land for a living. He went to school, became a music teacher briefly and then ran the farm and went organic after making some business decisions and seeing how chemicals affected his own family’s health. After serving on the local school board and soil conservation district, he was recruited to run for Montana Senate in one of the most conservative districts won by a Democrat in Montana. He stood by his values and won, then won reelection by a wide margin. And he still doesn’t shy away from speaking his mind. Interestingly, David Crisp, in a comments thread, expressed concern that Tester failed to provide a good enough political answer to explain his stance on the same-sex marriage question. My feeling? Tester’s honest. And what we need right now is honesty — a man who would rather have his integrity than a seat in the Senate and a man who will us that if we don’t think we can trust him, we might as well send him back to his farm, where he can continue the life he loves.

Emmett O'Connell | June 7, 2006 | Comment on This Post (18 so far) Permalink: Jon Tester is Western Democratic Montana, Senators, The Big Strategy

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