The good news for Senator Jon Tester (D-MT) is that he doesn't have to hire a professional to write his 2018 re-election ad copy. That service was already provided for him in the May 2 Washington Post Style section with a campaign ad disguised as an article written by Ben Terris. The theme of the campaign ad seems to be "salt of the earth" so let us now join it in mid gush:

Tester is now 60. He’s close to 300 pounds and sports a flat-top haircut. He works the land his parents and grandparents worked before him. He still uses the same meat grinder. ...a party that has focused on expanding its base to include more women, minorities and young people are looking to a seven-fingered farmer from Montana to help stop the bleeding. Last month, members of Congress flew home for a two-week recess that most would fill with town halls, fundraisers, and CNN appearances from remote locations. Tester spent his break on a tractor, tilling the land for organic peas on an 1,800-acre farm that has been in the family for more than 100 years.

Please! Rub in more salt of the earth for his next campaign ad!

He spent a morning shooting gophers out of his pickup-truck window and waiting for his fields to dry after an unexpected rain. He lost another full day to cursing, welding and crawling around on all fours in an effort to fix a spindle that broke on his cultivator.

What this paean to Tester fails to mention is that his most important vote was for Obamacare about which he is now going through the motions of claiming he could vote to repeal:

Democratic Sen. Jon Tester (Mont.) said Tuesday that he could possibly vote for a bill to repeal and replace Obamacare. Tester appeared on CNN with host Kate Bolduan, who asked Tester if he could work with President Donald Trump on repealing and replacing Obamacare. "Do you think you can work with this president on a health care bill, if the promise is still to repeal and replace Obamacare?" Bolduan asked. "I absolutely do, and I hope it happens sooner rather than later," Tester responded.

Mr. Salt of the Earth could have prevented that same Obamacare that he now claims he might vote to repeal had he only declined to vote for it in the first place in 2009. However, such inconvenient details were left out of the Washington Post campaign ad. Oh, and don't think the Post will perform the same service for the other senator from Montana since he has the "wrong" party label.