New Montana governor goes after Bush admin

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Give em' hell, Brian.  I knew I was gonna' like this guy.

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Populism.  Here is a great article that describes how Brian Schweitzer and other Montana Democrats are taking controll of the state.

"In addition to a winning personality and strong populist convictions, Schweitzer had an innovative, three-part political strategy, one that perfectly fit the current conditions in Montana, but which Democrats across the country could learn from. First, Schweitzer took advantage of public dissatisfaction with two decades of insular one-party rule in the state capital, casting himself as an outsider and a reformer. Second, he rallied small business, usually a solidly GOP constituency, to his side by opposing the deals Republicans had cut in Washington and Helena to favor large or out-of-state corporations over local entrepreneurs. Third, and most interesting of all, Schweitzer figured out how to win over one of the most important, reliably Republican, and symbolically significant groups of voters: hunters and fishermen."

rest or article:  http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2004/0412.sirota.html

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Brian Schweitzer was just fortunate enough to run and win the governor?s race in Montana where the low approval ratings of Judy Marz(sp?), in most case, rubbed off negatively on the Republican gubernatorial candidate causing Schweitzer to win. Other times, the other side gets hold of an issue and that resonates with the voters.

Im sure that played a little bit of a role in his election, but from what I can gather he run's great campaigns and the people of Montana agree with him on alot of issues.  I mean, he came awful close to beating Conrad Burns back in the 2000 senate race and Burns is a pretty popular/powerful guy in the state of Montana.

Again, for anyone who interested in a detailed analysis of Schweitzer's win, read this article:  http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2004/0412.sirota.html

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Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Burns considered a vulnerable candidate in 2000?

Yes, mostly because Schweitzer was the candidate.

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oh dear lord.  the democrats think populism is their key to victory.   wasnt john edwards the populist savior? 

note to democrats:  it isnt 1896 (not that populism worked for yall then, either).  get with the 21st century.

populism=a joke.

Edwards was hardly a populist.  He was liberal all around.

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i stand corrected.

but my point stands, the unpopularity of the republican incumbent was the key ingredient to his victory.

It played a role, but hardly the key role.  His opponent Bob Brown, was a very popular Republican secretary of state and a two-decade fixture in Montana politics.  Schweitzer won by a solid 4 points.

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And what makes him a populist?

Who?

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Schweitzer

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

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

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"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.

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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.