BURWELL, NEBRASKA – Tucked in the rolling Sandhills, the largest sand dune formation in America, sits Morgan Ranch, a 15,000-acre, family-run operation home to 1,000 cows and thousands of offspring."There's a lot of mouths to feed — both animals and two-legged," laughed Dan Morgan.His ranch has one of the largest privately-owned Wagyu herds in the U.S.He said his job has given him a front row seat to what he calls the "uncertainty" of President Trump's policies."To raise a piece of meat takes me three years," Morgan said.
"Well, look at the changes in the past two years: costs, tariffs, reciprocal tariffs because half of our business is export — it's just hell," he said.He's a Democrat — a self-described small blue dot in a sea of red, in a county and state that President Trump dominated two years ago.There's no Democrat running for the Senate in Nebraska, but Morgan is excited by independent candidate Dan Osborn."Osborn makes the case that somebody needs to represent the working family," Morgan said."And he can effectively do that."Osborn is one of four independents running for Senate in states President Trump won handily, including Idaho, South Dakota and Montana.
Buoyed by the president's sinking approval ratings and public frustration over affordability, independent candidates argue they bring a winning case to voters.It is an argument that some Democrats hope will resonate with voters as the party looks to retake control of Congress, betting that these candidates can help topple Republicans in parts of the country where their own brand is hurting.
"I'm a partisan Democrat.I believe in the Democratic Party.
I also believe in building coalitions so we can win elections and then do the work of the people," said Jane Kleeb, the chair of the Nebraska Democratic Party."And if that means creating coalitions with independents in some of our states, then that's exactly what we need to do."But while these independents are generally unified in their political...