During CNN's special November 7 coverage of the midterm elections, CNN correspondent Christopher Lawrence again suggested that Montana Democratic Senate candidate Jon Tester is “a different kind of Democrat” because Tester is “a farmer; he's a get-your-hands-dirty kind of guy,” unlike “urban, elite Democrats.” As Media Matters for America noted, on the November 6 edition of CNN's The Situation Room, Lawrence similarly stated that Tester is “not your typical Democrat,” because he is a “third-generation farmer” and “runs a butcher shop,” suggesting that few Democrats hold similar occupations.

From the 12 p.m. ET hour of CNN's America Votes 2006:

TONY HARRIS (anchor): And Chris, what is -- there are two things here. You may not want to vote for Conrad Burns, but you have to vote for something. So if you're voting for Jon Tester, what has been his appeal in the state?

LAWRENCE: Well, he's talked about one thing: He's talked about the culture of corruption in Washington, and he's really hit Burns hard on being out of touch with Montana. He's said he's been in office 18 years, he's gone Washington on us, he's not in touch with the people of Montana. And really, Tester is a different kind of Democrat. He's a farmer; he's a get-your-hands-dirty kind of guy -- not more of the urban, elite Democrats. So he's trying to appeal to a lot of those rural and conservative voters that other Democrats may have just written off in the past.

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