To emphasize how incredible Tester's win is, 538 last year complied a list of senators and how often they voted with Trump. Then, estimated how often they should vote with Trump based on the partisanship of their state.
A lot of Democrats that got picked off yesterday were disproportionately voting against Trump. Nelson was a measly -13.8. McCaskill was a -38.4. Donnelly was a -29.8. Heitkamp was a -37.8. A lot of those a very out of line with their states.
Tester was a whopping -48.2. No one else even comes CLOSE. The next closes is Sherrod Brown (hey another win yesterday) at -40.6. He is almost eight full points more off than his next closest competitor.
He voted against every single health care measure the republicans undertook. He voted against Kavanaugh without any of that "oh I might who knows tee hee" like a lot of red state democrats. He voted against Haspel. He voted for net neutrality. He voted against Pompeo. Against Pruitt. Against Mulvaney. Against Mnuchin and Price and Sessions and literally every single controversial White House appointment you can think off. Against the White House immigration proposal but for the bipartisan bill. Against all the tax codes. For sanctions. And on and on like this.
He voted against Neil Gorsuch. Democrats got hammered on attack over attack for voting against Kavanaugh, and he (from a +20 R state) voted against Gorsuch. AND WON.
He had a mere 36.7 voting with Trump record on what 538 considers important votes. In contrast, Manchin had 60% (and voted for a lot of those things above that Tester did not). That puts him a mere two points above such conservative senators as Tim Kaine and Thomas Carper. Machin is actually closer to Rand Paul than he is Tester.
Tester is pro abortion, pro LGBT rights, in a state that Trump won by 20. He single handedly dismantled Trump's attempt to head the VA with someone he desperately wanted. And Trump did every thing in his power to unseat Tester. In a state that love Trump, Trump actively campaigned against him for months.
Candidate quality matters. Jon Testeris and always has been a fucking badass. The man is missing several fingers from an accident learning how to butcher animals. He's an organic farmer in a state where thats big big business.
And as it turns out having the courage of your convictions is something that matters too. Compare him vs a fucking snake like Donnelly or a senile idiot like Nelson and people respond
Tester is a damn hero, yes. Probably my favorite non-my state senator. He's moderate on plenty of stuff, but is incredibly open with his positions, clearly states why he's doing what he's doing, and isn't afraid of making controversial decisions.
It wasn't until I went through his positions that I realized just how crazy it was he's now won three senate elections in Montana. I realize Montana has a real independent streak, but his positions are not what you'd expect from a red state democrat. But, like you said, candidate quality matters. Tester is leagues above the guys you mentioned and it definitely shows. ---
Moops? "I thought you were making up diseases? That's spontaneous dental hydroplosion."