I am still a little annoyed that former Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer decided not to run for Max Baucus’s senate seat, although I can hardly blame him for not wanting to join that hapless organization. I welcome, however, the news that he is seriously considering a presidential run. I do not think he can win the nomination for a couple of reasons. While he has a very progressive streak, his record on guns and coal probably places him far enough out of the Democratic mainstream that progressives will not unite around his candidacy. And he doesn’t have enough of a money-base to compete with the Big Dogs without colossal progressive backing.
Nonetheless, I think he would bring an important populist voice to the debate and could easily distinguish himself enough to be a very attractive running mate. Among the names that are being tossed about, only Martin O’Malley strikes me as a more natural progressive choice.
Montana only has three electoral votes, but you can say the same thing about Joe Biden’s Delaware. If Brian Schweitzer has some coattails, it will be less as a regional player than as a political flavor. There’s an atrophied part of the left-wing coalition that is still represented somewhat by Minnesota’s Democratic Farmer-Labor Party. It isn’t really a crucial part of the coalition for the purposes of winning the Electoral College, but bolstering its appeal can really put the Republicans on the defensive.
The Democrats real national strength comes through a combination of growing power in the southwest, including Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, and (soon) Arizona, along with their recent competitiveness in Virginia, North Carolina, and Florida. As long as the 2016 Democratic candidate is strong in those areas, they almost cannot lose the contest. But, bringing in a degree of prairie populism will add strength to their efforts in the Upper Midwest, particularly in Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, and will release some of the tension that has built up from the party taking on such a strong coastal character.
A lot of people who feel culturally estranged from Obama and Biden will not feel the same way about Schweitzer. So, I think Schweitzer can pull in some support from the far left and some support from the middle, and also have significant crossover appeal. He strikes me as an almost ideal running mate.
If Hillary Clinton is the nominee, picking Schweitzer as her running mate would be a mostly reassuring choice to progressives that wouldn’t alienate the middle.
I hope he runs.
“A lot of people who feel culturally estranged from Obama and Biden will not feel the same way about Schweitzer”
lawl. i love the euphemism twister games we play.
Cultural estrangement is a deeper concept that mere racism.
That’s why the Clintons’ ties to Arkansas have so much cultural power. Bill Clinton as Bubba makes him a much more attractive politician than Bill Clinton as Yale Law School graduate and Oxford scholar. The Clintons have appeal in the mountains of West Virginia and Kentucky that goes far beyond the color of their skin.
Joe Biden has appeal among working-class Catholics in the East and Midwest, but he doesn’t have appeal in the Ozarks.
So, that’s the kind of cultural appeal I am talking about, and that’s why I didn’t call it racism.
🙂
That’s why the Clintons’ ties to Arkansas have so much cultural power. Bill Clinton as Bubba makes him a much more attractive politician than Bill Clinton as Yale Law School graduate and Oxford scholar. The Clintons have appeal in the mountains of West Virginia and Kentucky that goes far beyond the color of their skin.
Yes. Anyone remember what Cranky McSame, or Willard, won Arkansas by? I remember polls taken in ’08 that showed Hillary would have won Arkansas over Cranky McSame by like 65-35. So I think you can figure out the racism + home-state discount from there.
Didn’t “Bubba” campaign for Gore in AR in 2000? Gore only lost that state by 5.4%. Boo’s model for the appeal of “Bubba” is long past its “sell by” date.
Frankly, I don’t remember.
Bush the Younger was a variant, and not very long ago.
America has a huge anti-intellectual tilt that’s not going away.
Pant suits and bolo ties?
Who will think of the children?
FTW!
re: guns .. I believe he supported the Manchin bill that died in the Senate. And he’s also not afraid to advocate for single-payer. Funny you mention coal. Obama was all for “clean coal,” at the least, as a Senator and no one batted an eye.
And Obama had much less of an excuse. There’s some coal in the southern part of Illinois, but it’s not the state’s boom economy the way it’s become in Montana. As governor, the economy of the state has to be his highest priority – it’s asking him a lot to be anti-coal in that office. Obama, not so much.
Certainly, and asking Schweitzer to be Bloomberg-ian on guns in Montana is dumb too. Hell, Boo’s former drinking buddy(who is the biggest Schweitzer booster in DFH circles) is probably to the right of Schweitzer on guns.
He would have my support at this point. I’ve always admired the guy. We need a populist and though Hillary would be very appealing to women and others, she is in many ways the previous story. Schweitzer would represent a nation moving to energy independence, environmental mindfulness, experience in governing, with a good understanding of the Middle East, and a very good fiscal record in Montana. I’ll send $$$ to help when it’s time.
I’ll crawl across broken glass for anyone that has a veto branding iron. I’m in MT, and it really was no surprise that he passed on the Senate. DC is a cesspool. Why do that to yourself unless you’re going to have real power?
Weird.
They don’t want to have to give Israel’s veto if the US abstains. And they are having a snit over the UN’s failure to authorize attacks on Syria and Iran.
Also, watch out for the hidden hand of the Bush family working through their Saudi relatives.
I wonder if this guy has anything to do with it.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18688045
http://blogs.cbn.com/stakelbeckonterror/archive/2010/02/18/u.s.-designated-global-terrorist-sits-dow
n-with-stakelbeck-on-terror.aspx
Then there’s this. It strikes me as rumor-mongering, but that doesn’t make it any less interesting, since it shows what rumors are being mongered and who is mongering them. This website, Press TV, is a 24-hour English language news organization of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), with headquarters in Tehran.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/249033.html
For PressTV, that’s aspirational, not informational. They earlier reported that Bandar had been fired. When they’re grinding axes they are as amusing to watch as Breitbart.
Is PressTv any worse than NBC, ABC or CBS? Can they really top Fluffyhead for shear mendacity?
PressTV has a fairly directly discernable agenda that is not related to making money or grabbing eyeballs through celebrities. It is like Pravda in the Soviet days–since Rouhani like Pravda under Gorbachev.
And what is NBC, ABC and CBS but shills for corporations and elite propaganda?
Nonetheless, there is a real issue there; the Saudi royals and their American friends were pissed off at Britain and the Security Council for taking this guy’s organization off the terrorist list, while Iran was rubbing it in. The Saudi royals really hate this guy. There is some sort of back story there. I wouldn’t dismiss the whole thing out of hand.
Here’s a more informative article from a well-known Pakistani paper.
http://dawn.com/news/731127/un-drops-saudi-dissident-from-al-qaeda-blacklist
His style doesn’t appeal to me, but I definitely think he’d be a good addition. I remember in 2008 some people talking about him hoping he’d run in 2016, and it just didn’t connect with me. Similar to why I don’t like Ed Schultz I guess.
However, Schweitzer is extremely charismatic, and I think he’d bring a lot of energy and flair to any campaign. I agree with your analysis to a tee.
So how does Schweitzer become known if he’s out of office? Or does he run for governor again?
Campaigning in other states is always a way for unknowns to get themselves known. Schweitzer has the potential for making the case for Democrats in Texas races. Texas has the second largest number of electoral votes. It would be interesting to see if Montana culture is a key to unlocking Texas for Democrats.
By 2016, coal will be less of an issue because the shift away from coal is already gathering momentum. But jobs in former coal-mining areas will be a huge issue. Too many of those areas have been kept single-industry locations by local barons for so long that creating other opportunities is going to require outside help. So he could have some strength in Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, Pennsylvania. And in those areas, his position on guns is not a handicap.
It would be an interesting addition to what most folks think is a foregone conclusion. And foregone conclusions don’t generate a lot of electoral excitement.
You make some good points. Schweitzer has some good qualities, not least of which is his unaffected manner. He can say things that cut through the clutter and are often funny. But his constituency is very narrow and name recognition next to zero. VP would be a good slot, but that’s not a job that many aspire to.
Say, just as an example, he were Hillary’s VP. He’d be 68 if she completed two terms. So that’s a consideration too. But we’ll know soon if he intends to run as he’ll have to start making appearances in other states.
Also, too, it’s getting pretty close to “do or die” time for Feingold if he has any Presidential aspirations.
Feingold apparently doesn’t have aspirations for further political office as best I can tell. A rematch with Johnson in which the lies about both Feingold and Johnson were showcased would be the normal route back, but Wisconsin has been so messed over by the Republicans that doesn’t seem either likely or a winner.
Of course, that might just reflect the despair of my Wisconsin friends.
I’ve never believed RF had much national appeal beyond a segment of the liberal elite. Personality can seem a bit distant, Dukakis-like.
There’s also the matter of some of his quirky mavericky politics which have rubbed me the wrong way in the past, particularly during Clinton and Dubya.
But I would like to see him run and regain his senate seat. Because most of the time he offers a refreshing and sane take on things.
when the purist Russ wouldn’t even run for Governor against Walker…
why do people still even bring up his name?
He was obviously not ready to jump back into things. And he had recently got divorced, for a second time.
He would be great at running against the Obama Social Security cuts–‘technical fixes’ I mean. Seriously, I just hope Dems don’t get too cute in budget negotiations so the next Den candidate isn’t in the position of running against the party.
Yes! We’re back to discussing elections that are still three years away. That means there aren’t any terrifying crises at the moment. How nice.
All I ask of ’16 is that, if Hillary wins, there be someone in the administration to pull her to the left.
Actually it’s to avoid discussing the big elephant in the room, the somewhat successful GOP sabotage of Obamacare signup. Expect the media, the Republicans, and the “we wuz betrayed” single payer folks to be harping on this until the next distraction.
IMO, the sound and fury will be long gone by next November, which is the only time politically that it counts.
Expect the media, the Republicans, and the “we wuz betrayed” single payer folks to be harping on this until the next distraction.
Have you seen much of the “betrayed” single-payer folks?
The only place I’ve heard any discussion of single payer at all is on the RW radio shows. They’re convinced the roll out problems are intentional so we have to move to single payer. I keep yelling “We wish!” at the radio.
The side of the GOP that was undermining the signups should have let the morons in DC know what they were up to. Instead, they distracted the public from the first few weeks, when they could have really played it up. By this point, it’s too late to get most people worked up about it. Yep, computers have glitches. Nobody will change their vote over it.
Actually the administration has done a good job of sabotaging Obamacare signup. The web site flaws are not simple glitches. And no, it’s not what you expect from a new program, unless you are Microsoft.
Hillary is who she is. Her inner liberalism was shallow and short lived. She’s an economic neo-liberal and FP “humanitarian” hawk when she’s not simply a war hawk.
Even if that is completely true, she is still ten thousand times better than any Republican. She’s not my first choice, but winning still matters.
I prefer Schweitzer but will support her if there is no one else. I’m disturbed by the “Ready for Hillary” e-mails lauding McAuliffe and Paul Begala. I can’t really think of anyone I liked in their administration offhand except Robert Reich.
Enough with the Clintons and Bushes. In 1992 I said, Oh well, Clinton is better than Bush. Only he wasn’t. He completed most everything on the Reagan/Bush wishlist; whereas, Bush wouldn’t have managed to get much, if anything, that he wanted.
If we don’t get a real Democrat in the WH and more of them in the House and Senate real soon (assuming there’s still time left), The Folly of Empire will be our undoing.
Hillary Thatcher isn’t part of the solution but part of the problem.
Still would prefer her to President Cruz.
My impression is that O’Malley is rather bland, while Schweitzer can light up a room.
I have very mixed feelings about Hillary – her strengths are amazing but when she’s bad she’s awful. I love Elizabeth Warren but have yet to be convinced she can run a national campaign. I really think Biden will be too old, and he’s never fixed his gaffe problem. Andrew Cuomo is a liberal nightmare.
I’m open to someone new, but right now I think Schweitzer is one of the best candidates out there.
Jon Lovett, The Atlantic: How the GOP Slowly Went Crazy
That should be a cautionary tale for Democrats as well.
Does Lovett really believe this:
America needs a strong, rational, positive, practical conservative movement. It needs that bulwark against liberal delusion and hubris. It needs a voice that says we are imperfect, that life is complex, that government can create need even as it meets need, that you can’t fix everything and freedom is worth some danger and sorrow. And there are smart, honest conservatives at the ready to be that voice, to help govern practically and sincerely with that voice, but they are drowned out by the guttural scream of craven utopians raging against reality.
I don’t think Lovett fully grasps the Conservative movement, or even most “liberals.” Liberal delusion and hubris?!?
All the non-psychotic conservatives believe in liberal delusion and hubris. Even though his readership is 60% left, Sully pops out with this enough to show that he really believes it too. I’ve seen it with others as well.
Basically the issue is they don’t have enough faith in humanity.
I really like the guy and if Christie ends up running he would be a good way to neutralize some of Christie’s appeal.
If he can some get a brain in his head on coal I can overlook the guns and support him against Clinton. Like she told me in 2008, if I was concerned about foreign policy skill I should vote for the other guy. I did.
As this time, there is only one Democrat with the campaign chops, legislative experience, and political orientation and policy issues good enough to beat Christie and change the direction of the country. That would be Senator Sherrod Brown. Too bad liberal Democrats aren’t drafting him to run and instead are meekly accepting the “it’s my turn” retread. (Note: “it’s my turn” Dole, Kerry, McCain and Romney all lost. And Gore ran a crappy enough campaign that he allowed a doofus like GWB to get close enough to steal the election.)