Wisconsin Democratic candidate says her party 'left behind' rural America

Blue Dog Democrat Rebecca Cooke, a Wisconsin congressional candidate, discussed in an interview Thursday how she is trying to set things right after she accused her party of abandoning rural and working-class voters in recent years.

She appeared on the "Politics War Room" podcast with co-hosts James Carville and Al Hunt, known for calling out the far left of the Democratic Party.

"I don’t wanna put you in a box, but you say you’re a Blue Dog and a New Democrat.

Tell me what it means to be a Blue Dog Democrat," Hunt asked.

JAMES CARVILLE PREDICTS 2028 DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY WILL TEST TRUE STRENGTH OF PARTY'S SOCIALIST WING "They are folks that are fiscally conservative, socially liberal, are really working from, like, a place-based perspective," Cooke said.

"They're people that understand rural Democrats, working-class Democrats, that are showing up in rural communities and working-class spaces that historically our party has left behind.

"And that's, like, I think why I was connected with them originally or why I — you know, what they were doing resonated with me so much." She cited multiple examples of other moderate Democrats who "understand how to talk to people in rural America, where I feel like a lot of folks in the Democratic Party don't anymore, and I certainly do.

"I think we've built strong coalitions across this district with farmers, you know, healthcare workers, people in rural communities that feel really left behind," Cooke added.

Hunt cited her past comments, asking, "You've said that, in Congress, Republicans are too right-wing, and congressional Democrats are too left-wing.

Specifically, how has Hakeem Jeffries [been] too left-wing?" "I'm talking just, I think, in general when I talk.

I did an ad last cycle where I was standing in the middle of the road on my parents' farm talking about how folks in D.C. are either too far left or too far right, and we need more people in the middle that want to work across the aisle to get things done," she said.

"I'm somebody that wants to work in a really bipartisan way and not put, you know, party before people or politics before people, and I think that's … what's important." Cooke suggested the Democratic Party needs more candidates from a working-class background, citing her own experience.

"I've been a waitress since I was 16 years old," she said.

"I've run a small business here in my community, but I also waitress to make ends meet.