The oil patch is a Pub constituency. Just like Hollywood is a Dem one. 
Do you know any Dems representing a fossil fuel zone these days (other than one holdout in WV which is trending Pub at warp speed)? A Dem trying to go native to fit in is futile. The zone knows that the Dems overall will favor preserving the snail darter and native grasses, and windmills while raising fossil fuel taxes to save the species and the planet every day of the week.
Anyway, NW ND has trended pub in both the 2004 and 2008 election cycles.
Mark Begich, Mary Landrieu. Begich was elected under unusual circumstances but both of them have been happy carrying water for oil as skillfully as a Republican would. If Landrieu loses, it won't be over environmentalism.
With role models like AK and LA, though, this post makes me wonder if oil's going to corrupt one of the few reliably clean state governments in the country...
