An Imperiled Blue Dog in Trumpland

摘要

Representative Collin Peterson's reelection campaign got a call this summer about some trouble downstate in Minnesota's 7th Congressional District. Farmers supporting the 15-term Democratic congressman, who chairs the U.S. House Agriculture Committee, had put Peterson placards up along a stretch of highway. The prob-lem, according to the worried campaign volun-teer, was that they were sitting next to signs for President Donald Trump. "What do you mean, a problem?" an aide asked the volunteer, according to Peterson's retelling of the conversation. "How do you think he gets elected?" The exchange sums up the question at the core of this closely watched race. Peterson may be a Democrat. But he's pro-gun rights and pro-life, and a founding member of the centrist Blue Dog Coalition. "At one time there were a lot of people like me" in Congress, he says. "I'm the only pro-life Democrat left. I'm the only NRA A+ Democrat left."