Between the coasts, populist Democrats see room to reclaim lost ground in red states
Heard on All Things Considered WESTERN MONTANA — Voters are angry, and an unconventional crop of Democratic candidates see an opening in this year's midterms to reclaim territory others in the party have given up on.
蒙大拿州西部——选民们很愤怒，一批非传统的民主党候选人看到了今年中期选举的机会，可以收复党内其他人放弃的领土。
From the Great Plains and Upper Midwest to the Deep South, campaigns are taking a page from a progressive brand of economic populism that once flourished away from the coasts.
从大平原和中西部北部到南方腹地，竞选活动正在借鉴曾经在远离海岸的地方盛行的进步型经济民粹主义。
They are betting that harnessing anger at corporate power and both parties might succeed when many voters believe the economy and government are not working for working people.
他们押注，当许多选民认为经济和政府不为工薪阶层服务时，利用对企业权力和双方的愤怒可能会取得成功。
If successful, they could forge a new playbook to compete again in places Democrats used to win.
如果成功，他们可以制定新的策略，在民主党曾经获胜的地方再次竞争。
In Montana, former U.S. Forest Service smokejumper Sam Forstag is trying to flip a House seat by speaking directly and from his own experience about the economic stress facing many Montana voters.
在蒙大拿州，前美国林业局空降灭火员萨姆·福斯塔格正试图通过直接谈论蒙大拿州许多选民面临的经济压力，并根据自己的经历来扭转众议院席位。
"I was making 19 bucks an hour jumping out of airplanes for the federal government in a community where you'd be lucky to find a home for a half million bucks," says Forstag, who in 2022 joined an elite team of wildland firefighters parachuting into remote areas.
福斯塔格说：“我在一个社区为联邦政府从飞机上跳伞，每小时赚 19 美元，在这个社区，只要花 50 万美元就可以找到一套住所。”福斯塔格于 2022 年加入了一支由荒地消防员组成的精英团队，跳伞到偏远地区。
"If a smokejumper is being left behind, a whole lot of other people are being left behind by both political parties."
“如果一名空降灭火员被抛在后面，那么很多其他人也会被两个政党抛在后面。”
When President Trump cut nearly 400 Forest Service jobs in Montana last year, Forstag was his union's vice president.
去年，当特朗普总统在蒙大拿州裁减了近 400 个林务局工作岗位时，福斯塔格担任了他的工会副主席。
Forstag says he tried to reach his Republican congressman, Ryan Zinke.
福斯塔格说，他试图联系共和党众议员瑞安·津克。
"Time and time again, I got crickets, so I decided if he's going to come after my coworkers and our members' jobs, I'm going to come and take his," Forstag told a crowd of smokejumpers and wildland firefighters this month at the Great Burn Brewery in Missoula.
“一次又一次，我得到了蟋蟀，所以我决定，如果他要抢走我的同事和我们成员的工作，我就会来抢走他的工作，”福斯塔格本月在米苏拉的大伯恩啤酒厂对一群消防员和荒地消防员说道。
Zinke ultimately retired, opening a district that runs some 400 miles between Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks.
辛克最终退休了，开设了一个从黄石国家公园到冰川国家公园大约 400 英里的地区。
Trump won the district by double digits in 2024.
2024 年，特朗普以两位数的优势赢得了该选区。
Now it is considered a toss-up.
现在它被认为是一个折腾。
A mix of factors are upending the typical political dynamics inside the district.
多种因素正在颠覆该地区典型的政治动态。
With an influx of wealthy transplants since the pandemic, the Montana housing market has become among the most unaffordable in the nation.
自大流行以来，随着富裕移民的涌入，蒙大拿州的住房市场已成为全国最难以负担的市场之一。
That squeeze has been compounded as the cost of groceries, gas and health insurance have also soared.
由于食品杂货、汽油和健康保险的成本也飙升，这种压力变得更加严重。
Montana has not usually been thought of as a swing state in recent years.
近年来，蒙大拿州通常不被认为是一个摇摆州。
Not long ago, voters here regularly elected Republicans and Democrats.
不久前，这里的选民还定期选举共和党和民主党。
But as the urge for disruption and a strain of populist rhetoric trained on cultural elites and immigrants helped propel Trump to victory in 2016, Democrats increasingly struggled to hang on.
但随着对颠覆的渴望以及针对文化精英和移民的民粹主义言论推动特朗普在 2016 年取得胜利，民主党人越来越难以坚持下去。
Sandi Ramos voted for President Obama twice before backing President Trump.
桑迪·拉莫斯在支持特朗普总统之前曾两次投票支持奥巴马总统。
Still she continued voting for Montana's Democratic senator, Jon Tester.
尽管如此，她仍然继续投票给蒙大拿州民主党参议员乔恩·泰斯特。
In the Biden era, Ramos soured on Democrats more broadly.
在拜登时代，拉莫斯对民主党的态度更加恶劣。
She says overall she is pleased with the job Trump is doing, despite not liking him personally, and says it would be hard to vote for a Democrat, even Forstag.
她表示，总体而言，她对特朗普所做的工作感到满意，尽管她个人并不喜欢他，并表示很难投票给民主党人，甚至是福斯塔格。
"I don't think anything could happen that fast to make me vote for him," Ramos says.
拉莫斯说：“我认为不会有任何事情发生得那么快让我投票给他。”
"Although I really respect him as a person and I like him."
“虽然我真的很尊重他这个人，而且我喜欢他。”
With support from split ticket voters like Ramos, Tester was able to outperform national Democrats for years.
在像拉莫斯这样的分票选民的支持下，泰斯特能够多年来超越全国民主党人。
But that record of electoral success came to an end in 2024, when he lost his bid for reelection.
但这一成功选举的记录在 2024 年结束，他竞选连任失败。
Following the Blackfoot River and then crossing the Continental Divide, golden aspen trees give way to wide-open fields for wheat and peas where Tester's family has farmed for over a century.
沿着布莱克福特河，穿过大陆分水岭，金色的白杨树被一片开阔的小麦和豌豆田所取代，泰斯特一家已经在这里耕种了一个多世纪。
"Where you're standing right now in 1960 was pretty damn blue," Tester says.
“在 1960 年，你现在站的地方真是该死的蓝色，”泰斯特说。
"These were the children of homesteaders in the Great Depression.
“这些是大萧条时期自耕农的孩子。
They understand the role government played.
他们了解政府所扮演的角色。
Before my grandfather died, he said if it wasn't for FDR, we wouldn't be on this place."
我祖父去世前说，如果没有罗斯福，我们就不会在这个地方。”
Tester says the Democratic brand here is not good.
泰斯特说，这里的民主党品牌不好。
He believes many national Democrats have written off places between the Appalachians and the Rockies.
他认为许多全国民主党人已经取消了阿巴拉契亚山脉和落基山脉之间的地区。
But as the Iran war and tariffs spike prices for fertilizer and fuel under Trump, Tester says some voters may be willing to give Democrats another look.
但随着特朗普领导下的伊朗战争和关税推高化肥和燃料价格，泰斯特表示，一些选民可能愿意重新审视民主党。
That is one reason Forstag spent a sunny Wednesday afternoon talking with a group of farmers and ranchers gathered at Peterson Angus Ranch.
这就是福斯塔格在一个阳光明媚的周三下午与聚集在彼得森安格斯牧场的一群农民和牧场主交谈的原因之一。
Proprietor Sue Peterson also chairs the small Granite County Democratic Party.
业主苏·彼得森 (Sue Peterson) 也是小型花岗岩县民主党的主席。
Atop a bluff with vistas in all directions, she says she has one theory why Democrats sometimes struggle to connect with ranchers or farmers in places they used to win.
她说，在一座一览无余的悬崖上，她有一个理论，为什么民主党人有时很难与他们曾经获胜的地方的牧场主或农民建立联系。
"If you're dealing with animals, you're dealing with life and death all the time and sometimes the decisions are hard and it's hard to relate to someone in a suit," Peterson says.
彼得森说：“如果你和动物打交道，你就一直在面对生与死，有时做出的决定很困难，而且很难与穿着西装的人产生共鸣。”
Forstag says it is frustrating to hear so many Democrats talk about affordability like a novel messaging strategy or a buzzword.
福斯塔格表示，听到如此多的民主党人谈论负担能力，比如新颖的信息传递策略或流行语，令人沮丧。
"We don't change this by giving a new term to it," Forstag says in an interview.
“我们不会通过赋予新术语来改变这一点，”福斯塔格在接受采访时说。
"We change it by changing who's in those damn rooms.
“我们通过改变那些该死的房间里的人来改变它。
Because there are politicians who have been sitting in those offices for 10, 20, 30 years and nothing has changed."
因为有些政客在这些办公室里坐了 10 年、20 年、30 年，但什么都没有改变。”
For Forstag, running as a populist means recalibrating the relationship between the people in power in Washington and the regular people who send them there.
对于福斯塔格来说，作为民粹主义者参选意味着重新调整华盛顿当权者与派他们到那里的普通人之间的关系。
"I'm going to answer to the people I've worked with for the last eight years," Forstag says.
“我要向过去八年里与我共事的人做出回应，”福斯塔格说。
"I'm going to answer to people like the kid I was growing up, whose belly is full because of food stamps.
“我要回答那些像我长大的孩子一样的人，他们的肚子因为食品券而饱了。
It does not feel like that's who Congress is answering to right now."
感觉国会现在并不是在对这负责。”
With a campaign hyper-focused on answering the economic pain shaping the lives of voters, Forstag has managed to attract endorsements from the party's left flank, like New York Democratic Rep.
由于竞选活动高度专注于解决影响选民生活的经济痛苦，福斯塔格成功吸引了纽约民主党众议员等党内左翼人士的支持。
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and also more moderate members of the Blue Dog Caucus in the House.
亚历山大·奥卡西奥-科尔特斯，以及众议院蓝狗核心小组中较为温和的成员。
"Populist language is a way to unify disparate groups who might lean towards or be willing to vote for Democrats, but might have problems with the beliefs or the priorities of one or another constituency within the Democratic Party," says Georgetown University professor Michael Kazin, who studies the history of American populism.
研究美国民粹主义历史的乔治城大学教授迈克尔·卡辛（Michael Kazin）表示：“民粹主义语言是一种团结不同群体的方式，这些群体可能倾向于或愿意投票给民主党，但可能对民主党内一个或另一个选区的信仰或优先事项有疑问。”
In places like Iowa, Arkansas and Wisconsin this year, candidates are embracing a more specific identity – as prairie populists, a nod to the late 19th century political movement with Great Plains roots that united small farmers and workers against corporate monopolies.
今年，在爱荷华州、阿肯色州和威斯康星州等地，候选人正在接受一种更具体的身份——草原民粹主义者，这是对 19 世纪末起源于大平原的政治运动的认可，该运动团结小农和工人反对企业垄断。
Kazin says it was also a reaction to states in the heartland feeling neglected in favor of more populous, urban states on the coasts.
卡津表示，这也是对腹地各州感到被忽视而采取的反应，而沿海地区人口较多的城市州则更青睐这些州。
Kazin says claiming this identity today allows candidates to tap into the anger that's fueling anti-establishment campaigns across the country this year, without alienating voters in more conservative-leaning states who might be put off by the party's toxic brand or divisive social issues.
卡津说，今天声称这一身份可以让候选人利用今年全国各地反建制运动的愤怒情绪，而不会疏远倾向保守的州的选民，这些选民可能会因为该党的有毒品牌或分裂性的社会问题而望而却步。
In Iowa, Democratic Senate candidate Josh Turek calls himself a "common sense prairie populist" and says his north star is "to go up there and fight for the people that can't afford to make a political donation or afford a lobbyist."
在爱荷华州，民主党参议院候选人乔什·图雷克(Josh Turek)称自己是“常识性的草原民粹主义者”，并表示他的北极星是“去那里为那些无力政治捐款或请不起说客的人们而战”。
The Democratic candidate for governor, Rob Sand, is campaigning on issues like the big agriculture corporations stymieing politicians from addressing polluted water supplies.
民主党州长候选人罗布·桑德 (Rob Sand) 正在就大型农业公司阻碍政客解决供水污染等问题进行竞选活动。
In Kansas , Democrats have nominated the Rev.
在堪萨斯州，民主党提名了牧师。
Adam Hamilton as their candidate for Senate.
亚当·汉密尔顿作为他们的参议院候选人。
Hamilton does not use the kind of anti-establishment rhetoric employed by other Democrats showing traction in red states.
汉密尔顿并没有使用其他在红州表现出影响力的民主党人所使用的那种反建制言论。
But he often ends his stump speech citing the Wizard of Oz , which some historians see as an allegory for the 19th century populist movement.
但他经常在演讲结束时引用《绿野仙踪》，一些历史学家认为这是对 19 世纪民粹主义运动的寓言。
"Do you remember what the scarecrow needed?
“你还记得稻草人需要什么吗？
A brain.
一个大脑。
And then what did the Tin Man need?
那么铁皮人需要什么呢？
The heart.
心脏。
And what did the Cowardly Lion need?
胆小的狮子需要什么？
Courage," Hamilton tells crowds.
勇气，”汉密尔顿告诉人群。
"This is what's missing in the United States Senate right now."
“这就是美国参议院现在所缺少的。”
For some Democrats, embracing this ethos is less about a position on the ideological spectrum and more about speaking to voters fed up with the status quo.
对于一些民主党人来说，拥护这种精神与其说是意识形态上的立场，不如说是与厌倦现状的选民交谈。
"The most common thing I've heard, whether I'm in Kansas or Wisconsin or Michigan, is we want a new generation of leaders and we want big and bold ideas.
“无论我是在堪萨斯州、威斯康星州还是密歇根州，我听到的最常见的事情是我们想要新一代的领导人，我们想要伟大而大胆的想法。
People are absolutely done with what they've known in the past," Michigan Democratic Sen.
人们绝对已经受够了他们过去所知道的事情，”密歇根州民主党参议员。
Elissa Slotkin told NPR after stumping for progressive Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed at a local Democratic club this summer in Michigan.
今年夏天，艾丽莎·斯洛特金 (Elissa Slotkin) 在密歇根州当地的一个民主党俱乐部为进步民主党参议院候选人阿卜杜勒·赛义德 (Abdul El-Sayed) 进行竞选活动后，告诉美国国家公共广播电台 (NPR)。
Jane Kleeb, the state party chair in Nebraska where Democrats are backing a mechanic running as an independent and a populist for Senate, says it is perplexing when Democrats complain that the only way to win power in the Senate is to reform its structure.
内布拉斯加州州党主席简·克利布(Jane Kleeb)表示，民主党人支持一位机械师以独立人士和民粹主义者的身份竞选参议院。她表示，当民主党人抱怨说赢得参议院权力的唯一途径是改革其结构时，这令人困惑。
She says the answer is to earnestly compete in more states.
她说，答案是在更多州认真竞争。
"So trying to focus on eight battlegrounds never made mathematical sense," says Kleeb, who is also a vice chair at the Democratic National Committee.
“因此，试图把注意力集中在八个战场上从来没有数学意义，”同时担任民主党全国委员会副主席的克利布说。
But if Democrats gain ground in Republican-leaning places, it might not be clear how much of that success is a reflection on the type of candidates and messages or just the deteriorating national environment for Republicans.
但如果民主党在倾向共和党的地方取得进展，我们可能不清楚这种成功在多大程度上是由于候选人类型和信息的反映，或者仅仅是共和党不断恶化的国家环境。
GOP candidates are also feeling the pressure to speak to anger over the economy.
共和党候选人也感受到了表达对经济愤怒的压力。
Campaigning across the vast district in an RV, Forstag's Republican opponent, veteran Aaron Flint, is promising to "make the Montana dream affordable again." As a conservative radio host, Flint has an intimate relationship with many Montana voters and hears about the challenges they are dealing with.
福斯塔格的共和党对手、退伍军人亚伦·弗林特开着房车在广阔的选区进行竞选活动，他承诺“让蒙大拿州的梦想再次成为人们负担得起的”。作为一名保守派电台主持人，弗林特与许多蒙大拿州选民有着密切的关系，并了解他们正在应对的挑战。
He is also trying to pierce Forstag's working class biography and effort to appeal to the middle, pointing out Forstag has campaigned with Ocasio-Cortez and lobbied in the off seasons for the ACLU.
他还试图刺穿福斯塔格的工人阶级传记和吸引中产阶级的努力，指出福斯塔格曾与奥卡西奥-科尔特斯一起竞选，并在休赛期为美国公民自由联盟进行游说。
Flint says if Democrats take power, they will hike taxes and make Montana's problems worse.
弗林特说，如果民主党掌权，他们将提高税收并使蒙大拿州的问题变得更糟。
"I'm not just running because of deep frustration with the damage that was done to this party by the Democrat party," Flint said in an interview after a stop in the old mining town of Butte.
“我参选不仅仅是因为对民主党对本党造成的损害深感沮丧，”弗林特在老矿业小镇比尤特停留后接受采访时说道。
"I'm also running because there's some Republicans back in Washington that aren't doing enough to fix everything either."
“我参加竞选也是因为华盛顿的一些共和党人也没有采取足够的措施来解决所有问题。”
Voter Nicholas Babcock is skeptical.
选民尼古拉斯·巴布科克对此表示怀疑。
He is a mail carrier in nearby Anaconda, where an old smelter for the once behemoth Anaconda Copper Company rises 585 feet above town.
他是附近阿纳康达 (Anaconda) 的一名邮递员，那里曾经是规模庞大的阿纳康达铜业公司 (Anaconda Copper Company) 的一座旧冶炼厂，位于城镇上方 585 英尺处。
Babcock voted for Trump three times.
巴布科克三次投票给特朗普。
He says the first term was more good than bad.
他说第一个任期的好处多于坏处。
"The second term is the exact opposite," he says.
“第二个术语恰恰相反，”他说。
"We have seen a complete betrayal of almost every campaign promise that was made.
“我们看到几乎每一项竞选承诺都被完全背叛。
It just feels almost like a slap in the face that we were sold one thing and none of it was delivered."
我们只卖了一件东西，却没有交付，这感觉就像是一记耳光打在我们脸上。”
So Babcock showed up at a Forstag town hall.
于是巴布科克出现在福斯塔格市政厅。
He says his hero was Charlie Kirk, the conservative activist who was assassinated last year.
他说他的英雄是去年被暗杀的保守派活动家查理·柯克。
"He would listen to absolutely anybody, discuss anything with anybody," Babcock says.
“他绝对会倾听任何人的意见，与任何人讨论任何事情，”巴布科克说。
"I'm absolutely willing to change my mind."
“我绝对愿意改变主意。”
Babcock says Forstag also knows what it's like to punch a clock and thinks he might actually buck the establishment.
巴布科克说，福斯塔格也知道打卡是什么感觉，并认为他实际上可能会反抗体制。
He hopes this politician will follow through.
他希望这位政治家能够贯彻到底。
With reporting by Barbara Sprunt in Nebraska, Stephen Fowler in Kansas and Danielle Kurtzleben in Iowa.
内布拉斯加州的芭芭拉·斯普伦特、堪萨斯州的斯蒂芬·福勒和爱荷华州的丹妮尔·库茨莱本报道。
SCOTT DETROW, HOST: Voters are mad about prices, corruption, politics in general.
主持人斯科特·德特罗：选民对价格、腐败和政治感到愤怒。
And some Democrats see an opening to win back territory others in the party had given up on.
一些民主党人看到了重新赢得党内其他人放弃的领土的机会。
NPR's Sam Gringlas reports from western Montana, where a former Forest Service smokejumper is trying to flip a house seat by harnessing anger at corporate power in both parties.
美国国家公共广播电台 (NPR) 的萨姆·格林格拉斯 (Sam Gringlas) 在蒙大拿州西部报道，那里一名前林务局空降灭火员正试图利用对两党企业权力的愤怒来推翻众议院席位。
SAM GRINGLAS, BYLINE: In 1910, a deadly wildfire consumed 3 million acres in Montana and Idaho.
萨姆·格林格拉斯连线：1910 年，一场致命的野火吞噬了蒙大拿州和爱达荷州 300 万英亩的土地。
The big burn transformed forest management.
大火灾改变了森林管理。
It also inspired a Missoula brewery, honoring wildland firefighters, including smokejumpers, elite teams who parachute into remote forests.
它还启发了米苏拉一家啤酒厂，向荒地消防员致敬，其中包括空降灭火员、跳伞到偏远森林的精英团队。
KIM MAYNARD: You're in the middle of a forest, and it's burning.
金·梅纳德：你身处森林之中，森林正在燃烧。
And there's somebody sawing.
还有人在锯。
Somebody else pulling the brush away.
别人把刷子拉走了。
Ten other people digging line.
另外十个人在挖线。
GRINGLAS: Kim Maynard is a former jumper.
格林格拉斯：金·梅纳德是一名前跳投运动员。
So is the congressional candidate she's here to see, Sam Forstag.
她来这里见的国会候选人萨姆·福斯塔格也是如此。
He was the union rep when President Trump cut some 400 Forest Service jobs in Montana last year.
去年，特朗普总统在蒙大拿州削减了约 400 个林务局工作岗位时，他是工会代表。
Forstag says he tried to reach his Republican congressman.
福斯塔格说，他试图联系他的共和党国会议员。
SAM FORSTAG: Time and time again, I got crickets.
萨姆·福斯塔格：一次又一次，我得到了蟋蟀。
So I decided if he's going to come after my coworkers' and our members' jobs, I'm going to come and take his.
所以我决定，如果他要接替我同事和我们会员的工作，我就来接替他。
(CHEERING) GRINGLAS: That incumbent retired, opening a district that runs 400 miles from Yellowstone to Glacier National Park.
（欢呼）格林格拉斯：现任总统退休了，开设了一个从黄石到冰川国家公园 400 英里的地区。
Trump won the district by double digits in 2024.
2024 年，特朗普以两位数的优势赢得了该选区。
Now, it's competitive, and Forstag is betting he can win by speaking from experience about the economic stress facing many Montana voters.
现在，它具有竞争力，福斯塔格打赌，他可以通过讲述许多蒙大拿州选民面临的经济压力的经验来获胜。
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Here we go bears.
身份不明的人：我们来了，熊。
UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: Let's go, U-M.
身份不明的群体： 走吧，密歇根大学。
GRINGLAS: Talking politics with friends at a University of Montana homecoming tailgate, utility lineman Raymond Matt says it's hard to envision ever affording a home in Montana.
格林格拉斯：公用事业线工雷蒙德·马特在蒙大拿大学返校节尾门与朋友谈论政治时表示，很难想象在蒙大拿州买得起房子。
The housing market has been among the nation's least affordable since the pandemic.
自大流行以来，房地产市场一直是全美最难以负担的市场之一。
RAYMOND MATT: My dad does the same thing I do, and he was able to buy a house at 25.
雷蒙德·马特：我爸爸和我做同样的事情，他 25 岁时就买了房子。
I'm 29.
我29岁了。
I've been doing this for five years.
我这样做已经五年了。
I just don't feel quite as caught up.
我只是觉得没那么被追赶了。
GRINGLAS: Matt is still weighing his vote.
格林格拉斯：马特仍在权衡他的投票。
Montana is not usually thought of as purple, but until recently, the state elected Republicans and Democrats.
蒙大拿州通常不被认为是紫色的，但直到最近，该州还选出了共和党和民主党。
Sandi Ramos backed President Trump and former Democratic Senator Jon Tester, but she soured on Democrats broadly in the Biden era.
桑迪·拉莫斯支持特朗普总统和前民主党参议员乔恩·泰斯特，但她在拜登时代普遍对民主党感到不满。
Now she says it'd be hard to vote for any Democrat, even Forstag.
现在她说很难投票给任何民主党人，甚至福斯塔格。
SANDI RAMOS: I don't know that anything could happen that fast to make me vote for him, although I really respect him as a person and like him.
桑迪·拉莫斯：我不知道有什么事情会发生得那么快让我投票给他，尽管我真的很尊重他并且喜欢他。
GRINGLAS: From split ticket voters like Ramos, Senator Tester managed to outperform national Democrats.
格林格拉斯：从像拉莫斯这样的分票选民中，参议员泰斯特成功地超越了全国民主党人。
But in 2024, it wasn't enough to win.
但到了 2024 年，这还不足以获胜。
JON TESTER: Take a 10-minute job and make it into an afternoon job.
JON TESTER：将 10 分钟的工作变成下午的工作。
GRINGLAS: Follow the Blackfoot River, cross the continental divide, and golden aspen trees give way to wide open wheat fields where Tester's family has farmed for more than a century.
GRINGLAS：沿着布莱克福特河 (Blackfoot River) 前进，跨越大陆分水岭，金色的白杨树逐渐被开阔的麦田所取代，泰斯特家族已经在这里耕种了一个多世纪。
TESTER: Where you're standing right now in 1960 was pretty damn blue.
测试者：在 1960 年，你现在站的地方真是该死的蓝色。
These were the children of homesteaders in the Great Depression.
这些是大萧条时期自耕农的孩子。
Before my grandfather died, he said it wasn't for FDR, we wouldn't be on this place.
我祖父去世前，他说如果没有罗斯福，我们就不会在这个地方。
GRINGLAS: Today, Tester says the Democratic brand here is not good.
格林格拉斯：今天，泰斯特说这里的民主党品牌不好。
He believes many national Democrats have written off places between the Appalachians and the Rockies.
他认为许多全国民主党人已经取消了阿巴拉契亚山脉和落基山脉之间的地区。
TESTER: I'm going to show you a tractor that I started driving when I was (inaudible) years old.
测试者：我将向您展示一辆我在（听不清）岁的时候开始驾驶的拖拉机。
GRINGLAS: But as the Iran war and tariffs spike prices for fertilizer and fuel, Tester says some voters may be willing to give Democrats another look.
格林格拉斯：但随着伊朗战争和关税推高化肥和燃料价格，泰斯特表示，一些选民可能愿意重新审视民主党。
There's a risk, though, that Democrats view gains this fall as validation to keep doing the same thing.
不过，存在这样的风险：民主党人将今年秋天的收益视为继续做同样事情的证明。
TESTER: They can't take the wrong lessons or the majority will be short lived.
测试者：他们不能接受错误的教训，否则大多数都会是短暂的。
You got two ears and one mouth, act accordingly.
你有两只耳朵和一张嘴，相应地行动。
Listen to what people are saying.
听听人们在说什么。
GRINGLAS: That's one reason Forstag is at a round table hosted by rancher Sue Peterson.
格林格拉斯：这就是福斯塔格参加由牧场主苏·彼得森主持的圆桌会议的原因之一。
FORSTAG: Thanks, Sue.
福斯塔格：谢谢，苏。
GRINGLAS: We hop in Peterson's dusty side by side vehicle, two dogs in back...
格林格拉斯：我们并排跳上彼得森那辆满是灰尘的车，后面有两只狗……
(SOUNDBITE OF ENGINE RUNNING) SUE PETERSON: Make sure you fasten...
（发动机运转的声音）苏·彼得森：确保系紧……
GRINGLAS: ...And start climbing a bumpy trail cutting through scrubby range land.
格林格拉斯：……然后开始攀登一条穿过灌木丛的崎岖小路。
PETERSON: It's like a mile high up here.
彼得森：这里有一英里高。
GRINGLAS: Peterson chairs the Granite County Democrats.
格林格拉斯：彼得森是格拉尼特县民主党主席。
So atop a bluff with vistas in every direction, I ask why she thought Democrats often struggle to connect with ranchers like her.
因此，在悬崖顶上，各个方向的景色都一览无余，我问她为什么认为民主党人经常很难与像她这样的牧场主建立联系。
PETERSON: If you're dealing with animals, you're dealing with life and death all the time, and you have to make decisions.
彼得森：如果你和动物打交道，你就一直在面对生与死，你必须做出决定。
And sometimes the decisions are hard.
有时做出决定是困难的。
And it's hard to relate to somebody in a suit.
而且很难与穿西装的人产生共鸣。
GRINGLAS: Forstag says it's frustrating.
格林格拉斯：福斯塔格说这令人沮丧。
So many Democrats talk about affordability like a buzzword.
许多民主党人把负担能力当作一个流行词来谈论。
FORSTAG: We don't change this by giving a new term to it.
FORSTAG：我们不会通过赋予新术语来改变这一点。
We change this by changing who's actually in those damn rooms, 'cause we've got a lot of people who've been sitting in those offices for 10, 20, 30 years, and nothing has changed.
我们通过改变那些该死的房间里的实际人员来改变这一点，因为我们有很多人已经在这些办公室里坐了 10 年、20 年、30 年，但什么都没有改变。
GRINGLAS: Forstag is among several candidates this year identifying with prairie populism, a movement that united small farmers and workers against corporate monopolies.
格林格拉斯：福斯塔格是今年认同草原民粹主义的几位候选人之一，这是一场团结小农和工人反对企业垄断的运动。
Now it's updated for a new era, when corporate influence over politics is strong.
现在，它已针对企业对政治影响力强大的新时代进行了更新。
FORSTAG: I'm going to answer to the people I've worked with for the last eight years as a smokejumper and a firefighter.
福斯塔格：我要回答过去八年来与我一起工作的消防员和消防员。
I'm going to answer to people like the kid I was growing up, whose belly is full because of food stamps.
我要回答那些像我长大的孩子一样的人，他们的肚子因为食品券而饱了。
It does not feel like that's who Congress is answering to right now.
国会现在似乎并不是在对这负责。
GRINGLAS: The Republican candidate, radio host Aaron Flint, says he's campaigning to make the Montana dream affordable again.
格林格拉斯：共和党候选人、电台主持人亚伦·弗林特表示，他正在开展竞选活动，让蒙大拿州的梦想再次变得可以负担得起。
He says Democrats will make Montana's problems worse.
他说民主党将使蒙大拿州的问题变得更糟。
AARON FLINT: I'm not just running because of deep frustration with the damage that was done to this country by the Democrat Party.
亚伦·弗林特：我竞选不仅仅是因为对民主党对这个国家造成的损害深感沮丧。
There's some Republicans back in Washington that aren't doing enough to fix everything, either.
华盛顿的一些共和党人也没有采取足够的措施来解决所有问题。
GRINGLAS: Voter Nicholas Babcock is skeptical.
格林格拉斯：选民尼古拉斯·巴布科克对此表示怀疑。
He's a mail carrier in Anaconda, where are an old smelter for the once-behemoth Anaconda Copper Company rises 585 feet above town.
他是阿纳康达 (Anaconda) 的一名邮递员，这里是曾经规模庞大的阿纳康达铜业公司 (Anaconda Copper Company) 的一座古老冶炼厂，位于城镇上方 585 英尺处。
NICHOLAS BABCOCK: As mail carriers, we're always the first to know anytime something bad happens or something good happens.
尼古拉斯·巴布科克：作为邮递员，无论何时发生坏事或好事，我们总是第一个知道。
You kind of become a steward of your community.
您有点成为社区的管家。
GRINGLAS: Babcock voted for Trump three times.
格林格拉斯：巴布科克三次投票给特朗普。
He says the first term was more good than bad.
他说第一个任期的好处多于坏处。
BABCOCK: The second term is the exact opposite.
BABCOCK：第二项正好相反。
We have seen a complete betrayal of every campaign promise that was made.
我们看到每一项竞选承诺都被彻底背叛。
It just feels almost like a slap in the face.
感觉就像是一记耳光打在脸上。
GRINGLAS: So Babcock showed up at a Forstag town hall.
格林格拉斯：所以巴布科克出现在福斯塔格市政厅。
BABCOCK: My hero was Charlie Kirk, and he would listen to absolutely anybody.
巴伯科克：我的英雄是查理·柯克，他绝对会听取任何人的意见。
And absolutely I'm willing to change my mind.
我绝对愿意改变主意。
GRINGLAS: And he did.
格林格拉斯：他做到了。
Babcock says Forstag has punched a clock like him and thinks he might actually buck the establishment.
巴布科克说，福斯塔格也像他一样打卡，并认为他实际上可能会反抗体制。
Babcock hopes this politician will follow through.
巴布科克希望这位政客能够坚持到底。
Sam Gringlas, NPR News, Anaconda, Montana.
Sam Gringlas，NPR 新闻，蒙大拿州阿纳康达。
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