Schweitzer's (gov, MT) VP prospects just went up....

[BlooInBloo]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=118&topic_id=173646&mesg_id=173646

"NRA gives endorsement to Schweitzer
By CHARLES S. JOHNSON
Gazette State Bureau

HELENA - The National Rifle Association Political Victory Fund on Tuesday endorsed Democratic Gov. Brian Schweitzer's re-election, citing his strong support of the rights of gun owners, hunters and sportsmen.

"He's just done a great job defending the Second Amendment, hunting, fishing (and) access on the part of the public to public lands," NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre said in a phone interview after a press conference in Billings.

"He also had legislation that secured $10 million for public access. He ended the moratorium on the buffalo hunt after 16 years."

Schweitzer, a lifetime NRA member, received an A rating from the NRA. "

http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2008/05/28/news/state/41-endorsement.txt

[XemaSab]

1. Second time today...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x6161187

[FrenchieCat]

2. Is he Jewish?

Cause if so, that's even better.

[BlooInBloo]

7. I don't know; but he's a Clinton supporter...

I think, at least.

[XemaSab]

10. Nope

I think he's officially neutral, so far. :shrug:

[BlooInBloo]

12. Bah. Now I gotta go look it up ya bastid!

:P

[BlooInBloo]

15. You're right!

http://www.stateline.org/live/static/Govs_Endorsements

[saltpoint]

11. Jag called me the other night -- late. the whole household is voting for

Obama!

[PM7nj]

8. According to Wikipedia he is Catholic. nt

[Douglas Carpenter]

17. actually he is Roman Catholic

I'm for Brian Schweitzer - at least as my personal first choice.

The Democratic Party's weakest points is in a general election is in small towns, rural areas and mid size cities. In the state by state counting that Obama would need in order to win a general election this would play out very differently than exclusive Democratic Party caucuses and primaries in places like Wyoming or North Carolina. For Sen. Obama to win I cannot see how he can do it without broadening his appeal in the West, the South and border-states and making a respectable showing in small towns, rural areas and mid size cities. So from my point of view, the V.P. candidate needs to be a populist Southerner or Westerner or border stater who would have appeal in small towns, rural areas and mid size cities.


http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/vote2004/countymap.htm

Governor Brian Schweitzer of Montana is a populist rancher from Montana who is generally populist and progressive on most issues - except gun control where he is strongly supported by the NRA. That speaks for his region. And frankly that would remove a huge electoral liability in the South, the West and in rural and small town America. However he is a strong environmentalist and was vehement vocal opponent of the Iraq War even calling for withdrawing the Montana National Guard from Iraq.

--- And get this he lived and worked in Riyahd for seven years and speaks perfect fluent Arabic. Just imagine what it would do for the world and for the interest of peace in the Middle East if the President of the United States had the name Barak Hussein Obama and the Vice President spoke perfect fluent Arabic!

And take a look at the image that he portrays that helped him sweep Republican Montana with 70% of the vote -- would this sell in small town American and among the white working class in the West and the South and border states?





From the actblue website: "Brian Schweitzer is a different brand of politician who has earned our support based on his willingness to speak truth, and let the chips fall where they may.

A businessman first, he understands Main Street issues at his core, fighting for lower taxes, better health care and education, and the creation good-paying jobs.
A soil scientist by education, Brian lived in Saudi Arabia for seven years, speaks Arabic, and created the largest dairy farm in the Middle East.

As Governor, he has become the nation’s strongest voice for sensible energy policies in an effort to reduce our dependence on foreign oil while protecting the environment from the dangers of global warming.
Brian understands that energy security will create new jobs and technology for export, expanding our tax-base, reducing our trade deficit, and saving our
environment.

An opponent of the Iraq invasion from the start, he further understands that you can’t win a war when you’re funding both sides of it."

[Skwmom]

43. I also think he would REALLY appeal to older voters b/c he would

remind them of when politicians use to be more authentic.

[roguevalley]

54. I am loathe to feel good about governors or senators. they are just

suits to me, nothing but suits. they are also too easy to slam for 'no real world experience' shit.

[anonymous171]

3. How many democrats recieve NRA endorsements?

[maui9002]

42. Actually, I think his position on gun control is a bit more nuanced

I could be wrong, and it's clear he's received the NRA support for many years, but I heard him speak on the issue in an intelligent thoughtful manner--based on what I've heard, he's not opposed to sensible gun control tailored to the local area where the controls are being implemented. In other words, what works for Montana, where, in his words (paraphrasing from recollection here), many citizens carry guns in racks in their trucks every day as a way of life, wouldn't necessarily be appropriate for a high crime urban area, which might be better served by some form of rational gun control, particularly if the controls are supported by the locals and their local governments rather than being imposed by the federal or state government. I just appreciated the thoughtful reasoned approach to the problem rather than you can take this gun from my cold dead hands approach.

[anonymous171]

49. Isn't that Obama's stance as well? Or similiar?

[saltpoint]

4. I would pay some hefty cash to hear Brian Schweitzer debate whatever

corrupt, brainless hack McCain appoints as his veep nom.

I think that would be a very clarifying evening, strongly in favor of the Democartic candidate.

I really like Schweitzer, and if he can't be on this ticket this time, then as soon as possible. Hell of a good man.

[anonymous171]

5. He would be the perfect candidate for a "culture war" year.

[saltpoint]

6. Very good point. I think there's quite a bit he can bring to the party,

or to the ticket, if that turns out to be Obama's choice.

But on top of the good strategic appointment, he's just a damned likeable soul.

[anonymous171]

9. I agree.

[havocmom]

14. OC, ya know he did charter bus trips to get elderly to Canada for perscriptions in 2000, didn't ya?

Google: Schweitzer + elderly to Canada for prescriptions

The feds made him stop, to protect consumers and all :eyes: Now we get drugs from China and I am not sure it's a safe deal. But Brian worked to force the issue of medication costs into the race. He is a clever chap and can bring the debate to real issues as opposed to the 'gotcha' partisan political divide that gets so little done.

[saltpoint]

19. "to protect consumers and all" LOL!

yes -- and it's just real hard to blame the man for helping this to happen for the older folks in his state.

Loved him for that, too.

When other countries think of U.S. Americans, I want them to think of people like Brian Schweitzer and not people like Alberto Gonzales, Condoleezza Rice, and Dick Cheney.

[progdog]

44. I'm with you on that.

Schweitzer would be a perfect choice. :toast:

[BlooInBloo]

24. omg - I had no idea - that's AWESOME!

[CitizenLeft]

13. his is the most intriguing of the names that pop up for VP.

My heart says Edwards, but... I'd be happy with Schweitzer too. Sebilious too. Richardson too. Oh hell, I'm torn...

[BlooInBloo]

16. It's soooo nice having a deep bench. :)

[KittyWampus]

40. think of Schweitzer as Edwards in blue jeans.

[tokenlib]

18. The ticket would be a colorful one...

I'm kind of stuck between Schweitzer and Richardson. They both have different strengths to offer. But Schweitzer strikes me as someone who would surprise the country. Richardson would help Hispanic outreach. I like both of them better than the east coast crew for reaching out to small town, rural areas.

[anonymous171]

20. The question is: Could he survive the vetting process? And would he even accept?

[BlooInBloo]

29. Is there any reason you know of that he wouldn't make it out of vetting?

As for acceptance, who knows?

[BlooInBloo]

22. They're my #1 and #2 - both have the same strategic aim: moving west, young man...

They just achieve the goal in different ways.

[anonymous171]

23. I agree. We can make the west the democratic equivalent of the red south.

[msallied]

21. This makes me soooo excited!!

I'm pulling big for this guy. He's one of my favorites and I will open a bottle a champagne to celebrate the occasion if he's picked!

[anonymous171]

25. Oh, and I do love buffalo meat. It's soooo good.

:hide:

[John Q. Citizen]

26. I hope Brian stays right here for another term.

[anonymous171]

27. I am jealous.

[BlooInBloo]

28. All ur Schweitzer belong to us!!!!

muah-hahaha!!!!

:P

[MercutioATC]

30. Strategically, I think he's perfect.

The more I think about it (just became aware of him a few hours ago) the more I like it.


He can draw the "white rural voter" that Obama supposedly can't attract and he'd drive the RNC bugshit crazy because he's not the "scary liberal" that they like to frighten people with.


As long as he can make it through vetting, I think he'd be a great choice.

[Name removed]

31. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[MercutioATC]

32. Care to elaborate?

Those three words didn't make any sense to me.

[BlooInBloo]

33. CW is that he's getting his post count up so that he can launch god's best OMGWTFBBQPWN on us...

We'll see.

[MercutioATC]

34. I just ran through his post history. I concur with the CW.

He has yet to post a complete sentence.

[BlooInBloo]

35. omg - I'm soooo disappointed. Maybe he's just warming up or something.

[MercutioATC]

36. If this wasn't late primary season, we'd probably just think he was drinking.

Piecing his posts together, he hasn't actually been inconsistent yet.

Theme: We're all Dems. Stop the infighting.


Yes, I speak "monosyllabic drunk".

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

37. I doubt he wants the job

He has a good thing going in Montana and probably very little interest in being a piece of red meat. I also imagine the republican noise machine would turn him into John Walker Lindh who deserted America to build a terrorist training camp in Saudi Arabia.

[AllentownJake]

38. Who says no

When asked?

[tokenlib]

39. morning kick n/t

[NashVegas]

41. I'm Sure Republicans Would Love To Get Him Out of Montana

Read David Sirota's book, The Uprising.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

50. ...and there's the drawback

I fear we would be essentially giving the governor's mansion back to the Republicans. Might be a small price to pay, but Montana Democrats would probably be very disappointed to lose him.

[Skwmom]

45. Here is an article about Schweitzer

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/08/magazine/08governor.html

He shot guns, rode horses, took his dog to work and decimated his opponents with off-the-cuff one-liners heavy on the bull-and-horse metaphors.

Schweitzer’s grandparents were homesteaders who immigrated to Montana from Ireland and Germany. (Which you will find in OH, PA, and WV).

Six-foot-two and a beefy 205 pounds, Schweitzer has seized the heartland imagery generally monopolized by Republicans. “Schweitzer is the antithesis of the Democrat stereotype,” Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, of dailykos.com, the partisan Democratic blog, told me. “Too many Democrats look like targets for the school bully. Schweitzer is a tough guy. And people like guys who will bar-fight their way across a state.”

Schweitzer has the ability to reduce a complicated issue to a few sharp lines, reframing it with themes of patriotism and underdog know-how. “I was a critic of Nafta, I was a critic of Cafta and I’ll be a critic of Shafta,” he says of free-trade agreements, long the hobgoblin of even the most articulate liberal politicians.

[progdog]

46. Could anyone call Schweitzer an Elitist?

I don't think so.

[tokenlib]

47. It would be an amazingly balanced ticket of contrasts...

A constitutional lawyer--community organizer--more urban type
and rancher--soil engineer--international businessman--sportsman.

It is perhaps too unorthodox to happen--but I think it would kick ass...

[progdog]

48. I completely agree with you.

I've been thinking about this for a long time. Since Penn. primary. Just what the political doctor ordered.

[Skwmom]

52. They would win in a LANDSLIDE! Oh PLEASE, let Obama pick Schweitzer.

The GOP is trying to negatively define Obama. Schweitzer as VP would kill any chances of the GOP succeeding.

Plus:

1. He reinforces the message of change and authenticity.
2. By his mere appearance, the voters will think him qualified to keep this nation safe.
3. He will hammer the GOP but in a way that does not turn off voters.
4. If McCain taps Romney, he will make Romney seem like a phony, fake (another plastic politician). If McCain were to tap Hucklebee, he will be able to counter Hucklebee's awe shucks appeal to voters.
5. He will appeal to older voters b/c he seems like a REAL, down to earth person.
6. He will appeal to the voters in OH, PA, and WV.
7. He will appeal to Republicans and Independents.

On edit: He will reinforce EVERY POSITIVE perception of Obama.

Plus, he would be GREAT at getting the Democratic agenda through Congress.

[progdog]

53. Exactly!

n/t

[TwilightGardener]

51. So he fellates the NRA. Whoop de doo.

[MercutioATC]

55. Ya know, there are plenty of liberals who support private gun ownership...

...and having him on the ticket would go a long way toward dispelling the "Democrats want to take your guns" myth.

[benEzra]

56. It's attitudes like that that perpetuate the "Dems'll-take-yer-guns" meme.

Lots of Dems and indies own guns, too, and we'd like to keep them.

FWIW, I think Schweitzer would be an excellent choice.