New Montana governor goes after Bush admin

[bgwah]

Schweitzer

[Rob]

Schweitzer

He's against big corporations, for small business, etc.

[nick]

Schweitzer

He's against big corporations, for small business, etc.

Plus, hes big time pro-gun rights, pro-hunting rights, pro-outdoorsmen.

[nick]

"Montana: Self-Image of, you'll find a picture of Brian Schweitzer. He is the grandson of Montana homesteaders and looks the part: He is a burly six-foot-two, always clad in jeans with a gilded silver belt buckle. Schweitzer put himself through college by mopping floors at sororities, got a master's degree from Montana State in, of all things, soil science, and then worked for eight years on irrigation projects in the part of the world that's hardest to irrigate—the Sahara Desert. When he returned to Montana in the late 1980s, he built a farming and ranching business from scratch—no small task at a time when corporate agribusiness was swallowing huge swaths of America's heartland. He is gregarious, tough-talking, and utterly without self-doubt."

"Small bidness populism

One key reason the access issue had such resonance for Schweitzer was that its propulsive, little-guy-versus-big-guy force was in perfect sync with much of the rest of his message and campaign. Indeed, our first television ads had struck this chord, featuring Schweitzer talking about his small business experience and the need to grow Montana's economy, which has the lowest wages in America. The beauty was, it didn't sound like the usual Democratic fare. Too often, Democratic boilerplate language about helping “working families” makes it sound like the party thinks of Americans as helpless victims of crushing economic forces. In truth, most Americans are proud of their ability to stand on their own two feet and compete, and that self-image is embodied in the small business person. This appeal is particularly strong in Montana where, as Schweitzer likes to remind people, 85 percent of residents own or are employed by small businesses.

While D.C. interest groups like the National Federation of Independent Business have become de facto arms of the Republican Party, at the grassroots level, employees of small businesses aren't particularly Republican, and even small business owners are more up for grabs. Sure, these entrepreneurs don't like high taxes and regulations. But many of them have felt the sting of losing customers and markets to big corporations that used their size and clout unfairly. As a small business owner himself, Schweitzer shared these frustrations and knew how to use them. He seamlessly turned questions about taxation into opportunities to argue that big-box companies like Wal-Mart should pay their fair share and shouldn't be allowed to run roughshod over local business. Education became a way to talk about how state government was hurting small business development by letting Montana's technical college tuitions become among the highest in the nation.

This line of attack was threatening enough that the Republican Governors' Association promptly got aggressive, dumping hundreds of thousands of dollars into ads using innuendo to question Schweitzer's business practices. The barrage culminated in the last week, when they aired a spot featuring three people who had done business with Schweitzer and who told the camera they thought he was “unethical.”

But as polls ultimately showed, the tactics were actually driving up their own candidate's negatives. Because we had spent so much of our own ads talking about small business, and because the GOP ads were so vague, we were able to pivot back to values by painting the attacks as insulting to all farmers, ranchers, and small businesspeople, rather than a legitimate criticism of Schweitzer. (It helped that the Montana Democratic Party aired a response ad noting that one of the people attacking Schweitzer was actually Brown's own cousin.) "

The guy reeks of populism.

[rbt48]

By the way, it seems as if his running mate was a Republican.  The Lt Gov, John Bohlinger is shown as a Republican and they were elected on the same slate.  Anybody know how this came to be?

[nick]

By the way, it seems as if his running mate was a Republican.  The Lt Gov, John Bohlinger is shown as a Republican and they were elected on the same slate.  Anybody know how this came to be?

Great campaign move by Schweitzer.  He knew the campaign was going to be full of negative attacks from the other-side.  What better way to fight off the attacks than to pick a Republican Lt. Gov?  What better way to show you are truly looking to work bi-partisanly to get things done for the citizens of Montana? Plus, from what I can gather and what Ive heard from Montana residents, Bohlinger is a big-time RINO.  Also, Schweitzer knew Bohlinger would'nt be a threat to future Democrats because of his age.  Overall, it was a brilliant move on Schweitzer's part to ask Bohlinger to jump on the ticket as his Lt. Gov.

[PBrunsel]

Just because you're from a red state doesn't mean that you can't blast Bush.

You tell me someone who didn't know this, and i'll give you a cookie.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

He's at it again!

Montana is at such high risk for a wildfire "blowup" this summer that Gov. Brian Schweitzer wants at least some of the 1,500 National Guard soldiers in Iraq and elsewhere to return home for the wildfire season.

The governor warned Friday the state is like a powder keg because of persistent drought, a shortage of mountain snow and forests full of dry timber. "I know it's going to be a bad fire year," he said, adding he anticipates a repeat of the 1988 season when 4,122 fires charred 2.2 million acres in the Northern Rockies, including about 793,000 acres in Yellowstone National Park.

"Somebody's going to have a blowup," Schweitzer said in an interview. "Is it northern Idaho, is it eastern Washington or is it Montana?" The governor has asked the Pentagon to return some of the Montana National Guard troops and aircraft called to active duty. He also plans to ask leaders in Idaho, Washington, Saskatchewan and Alberta to commit manpower and machines to fight the anticipated wildfires.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/03/04/montana.governor.ap/

[ian]

A little off topic, but Daily Kos people said that in the primary, Kos will endorse Schweitzer.  And I quote:
"Seriously, if Schweitzer wants to run for president, I'm there with him. His brand of Western economic populism, conservationism (not "environmentalism"), and strict supporter of gun rights is the ticket to taking the Mountain West, hence, the whole country."