JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
In the fight for control of the Senate, there's a handful of independent candidates running who say they are done with both parties. Some Democrats see them as their best shot at denying Republicans a majority, particularly in parts of the country where their own brand is hurting. We're going to talk about two of those races - one's in Montana, the other's in Nebraska - with NPR congressional correspondent Barbara Sprunt. Hey there.
BARBARA SPRUNT, BYLINE: Hi, Juana.
SUMMERS: So, Barbara, I know you were recently in Nebraska, where independent Dan Osborn is running for Senate. There is not a Democrat in the race there. So what did you hear? What's the dynamic?
SPRUNT: Well, the fact that there's no Democrat offers both advantages and challenge. An advantage is that, you know, it's a two-person race, so there's not a third person that's siphoning votes away from Osborn. But on the flip side, the Republican running, incumbent Senator Pete Ricketts, has tried really hard to brand Osborn as a secret Democrat. In fact, the very first thing that I heard when I turned the radio on in my rental car was a jingle about, quote-unquote, "Democrat Dan"...
SUMMERS: Interesting.
SPRUNT: ...From the Rickets campaign. And at their debate, he called him Democrat Dan so many times that Osborn was like, let's just bring another podium out for this guy.
SUMMERS: (Laughter) OK. But Osborn has gotten support from the state Democratic Party, is that right?
SPRUNT: Yeah, that's right. I mean, he ran two years ago and came within 7 points against Republican Deb Fischer. Democrats took note of that, and the state party this year just didn't think they could run anyone with a better chance of beating a Republican than Osborn. So they are fully behind him as the Democratic Party in the state. But I asked him, is it in some ways harder to make the case that he isn't a secret Democrat because there just isn't another Democrat running? And he said, yeah, it does make it harder.
DAN OSBORN: That's the problem of being an independent. They will put that money to define you. So it's very difficult to push through that noise and define yourself.
SUMMERS: OK, Barbara, let's move now to Montana, where there's a three-way race with an independent, a Democrat and a Republican. How does this compare to Nebraska?
SPRUNT: Well, they really have kind of, like, the opposite problem. Osborn is being painted as a Democrat because there isn't one in the race. And then there is a Democrat in Montana, but that's the very thing that's making it much harder for the independent, Seth Bodnar, to win because it is splitting that vote.
SUMMERS: And how are Democrats in Montana thinking about this?
SPRUNT: Juana, it's a doozy (laughter).
SUMMERS: Oh, boy.
SPRUNT: There are prominent Democrats, including a former senator and former governor, who support Bodnar. Then there's a camp of people who are frustrated that Bodnar didn't just run outright as a Democrat. And then there are others who say it's just bad for the future of the state party if they don't all coalesce behind the Democratic nominee. So I talked to Rob Saldin about this. He's a professor of political science at the University of Montana.
ROB SALDIN: They want somebody who for years into the future is going to be able to help downballot candidates to be the face of the party in the state. And when you've got an independent candidate who's saying, well, a pox on both your houses, this is not the guy who's going to be able to do that work in the trenches for the party.
SUMMERS: And Barbara, just putting my political correspondent hat on here for a second, it feels like there's this big strategic question about whether it makes sense for Democrats to get behind an independent candidate.
SPRUNT: Yes, and interestingly, Alani Bankhead, the Democrat running in Montana, actually pointed to Nebraska in our conversation as a model for how Democrats could go about this, because from the get-go, Nebraska Democrats were very transparent with voters about their plans to support Osborn. Here's Jane Kleeb, the Nebraska Democratic Party chair.
JANE KLEEB: If you're going to do this as a Democratic Party, that's what you have to do. You have to be honest with voters and explain that strategy and make sure that the Democrats support that.
SUMMERS: So does she feel like the long-term future strategy for Democrats in her state and perhaps other red states is to get behind independents, or is this sort of like an interim Band-Aid solution?
SPRUNT: Well, she's clear the party has work to do to rebuild its brand in some of these places. And she says that one day, the Nebraska Democratic Party will be strong enough for a competitive statewide race. But in the meantime, she says there is merit to supporting independents when they seem better positioned to win, as she thinks Osborn is. The key is to make sure that it doesn't happen at the expense of the state party, which we have seen in Montana.
SUMMERS: We'll see what happens. NPR's Barbara Sprunt, thanks as always.
SPRUNT: Thank you, Juana. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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