TBV Feature: A Big Guy from the Big Sky State, Brian Schweitzer

We're starting to take a look here in this blog at the political future of this country, what kind of change is needed, how to go about it, and who out there on the political map might be likely to pull us out of the current quagmire of Republican sleaze and slime. I've been reading about this guy for a while now, and intend to keep a line in the water for continuing information about him. His name is Brian Schweitzer, and he is the Democratic governor of the big sky state of Montana. A very Red state, as you might suppose. I haven't seen his name come up here yet, so I don't know how familiar any of y'all may be with him, his CV, and his politics.

Just for starters, I'm gonna toss out some reading assignments. David Sirota actually went out to Montana to work on Schweitzer's gubernatorial campaign (he'd run an unsuccessful senatorial campaign in 2000, from which he learned a lot of lessons), and this article serves as a good intro to the man Sirota thinks has a lot to teach the Democratic party: Top Billings: How a Montana Democrat bagged the hunting and fishing vote, and won the governor's mansion. Salon.com is running a series on potential Democratic candidates,, which they're calling "Life of the Party." They began with Schweitzer, in this piece: Brian Schweitzer, the blue governor of the red state of Montana, may just have the answer to the Democrats' woes. The third article is from In These Times, and is the most recent of the three: The Progressive Frontier: The governor of the Big Sky state has important lessons to teach Democrats across the nation.

I spent the last third of my life as an effete East Coaster, but am soon to return to the West, where I started. The country may be ready to listen to a real rancher, a real man of the people, a guy who seems to understand what we really need. A westerner on the ticket may just BE the ticket. I've been hoping Bill Richardson would consider stepping up, but Schweitzer might do just fine. Read some of the above stuff, and leave comments. What do you think of this guy?

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