The rural Democrats who say their party has affordability all wrong

Two Democrats running long-shot campaigns in rural regions against GOP incumbents say their party isn't hitting the mark to address cost-of-living concerns.

“My hope is that actually there’s real teeth behind this, because I think people just don’t believe it,” said Callie Barr, who is running to flip Michigan’s 1st Congressional District. | Sarah Rice/Getty Images

Most Democrats think their key to winning back control of Congress in the midterms will be selling voters on an affordability agenda and bashing President Donald Trump’s handling of the economy.

But some in their party — running long-shot campaigns in rural regions against Republican incumbents — say all the affordability talk has lost the plot.

“Democrats on a national level have discovered ‘affordability’ as a winning strategy, as some magic bullet that’s going to win them elections all over the country,” Hallie Shoffner, who won the Democratic Senate primary in Arkansas earlier this week, told POLITICO in an interview.

© Politico