Can Democrats still win in rural states? Montana’s Senate race offers litmus test

Jon Tester is fighting to keep his Senate seat amid the prospect that Democrats like him are now facing political extinction in the state

He was a young and little-known underdog. So Max Baucus, candidate for Congress, decided to trek 630 miles across Montana and listen to people talk about their problems. As luck would have it, on the first day, I walked into a blizzard," he recalls, pointing to a photo of his young self caked in snow. It was cold! But the blizzard didn't last that long."

Baucus shed 12lbs during that two and a half month journey in 1974. He also made friends. The Democrat defeated a Republican incumbent and would soon go on to serve as a Montana senator for 36 years. He never lost an election but saw his beloved home state undergo many changes. Among them is the prospect that Democrats like him are now facing political extinction.