Tennessee is so red that it has not voted for a Democrat statewide since 2006. As it happens, that Democrat was Bredesen himself, who picked up every single one of its 95 counties in his bid for reelection. While much of the rest of the country is gearing up for an epic midterm battle between the hardened forces of Trumpism and the resistance, Tennessee is testing whether persuasion is still possible in politics. The theory is that the right kind of candidate can persuade voters, particularly the growing share of Tennesseans who identify as independents, to see beyond party labels.