WINNING IN THE RED STATES….Is it possible for Democrats to win office in red states? Even deep red states like Montana?
Yep. In fact, Democrat Brian Schweitzer not only became governor of Montana last week, he did it so resoundingly that his coattails allowed Montana Democrats to take the state legislature and four of five statewide offices. In a preview article from our December issue, David Sirota explains how he did it:
In addition to a winning personality and strong populist convictions, Schweitzer had an innovative, three-part political strategy, one that perfectly fit the current conditions in Montana, but which Democrats across the country could learn from. First, Schweitzer took advantage of public dissatisfaction with two decades of insular one-party rule in the state capital, casting himself as an outsider and a reformer. Second, he rallied small business, usually a solidly GOP constituency, to his side by opposing the deals Republicans had cut in Washington and Helena to favor large or out-of-state corporations over local entrepreneurs. Third, and most interesting of all, Schweitzer figured out how to win over one of the most important, reliably Republican, and symbolically significant groups of voters: hunters and fishermen.
The whole article is worth reading.
