Brian Schweitzer In The New Yorker

[ruggerson]

http://www.newyorker.com/online/content/articles/060529on_onlineonly01

Jeffrey Goldberg on Schweitzer and Democratic prospects in '06:

Goldberg: "The governor of Montana, Brian Schweitzer, who’s a very popular and populist Democrat, argues that sometimes the Democrats just don’t seem as likable as the other guys. And the problem with likability comes from a feeling that Democrats are lecturing voters about what’s best for them.

Amy Davidson: "But Brian Schweitzer is, as you say, a Democrat who got elected in a very red state."

Goldberg: "That’s because Brian Schweitzer is a Democrat who lives in a red state and has figured out how to talk to people in a way that doesn’t anger or annoy them. He’s doing some things that are very liberal, in our understanding of what the word “liberal” means­putting a lot of money in K-12 education, looking for alternative fuel sources. On certain issues, he is in the Montana mainstream: he’s opposed to gun control. But his success has much less to do with particular issues and more to do with his style of approach to voters, in which the voters don’t feel that they’re being talked down to, and that their values are not being mocked by the national Democratic Party."

(more)

[yngliberal]

1. Is Goldberg part of the DLC?.....

He sure does sound like it.

[w4rma]

3. Jeffrey Goldberg is a journalist and staff writer at the New Yorker. (nt)

[yngliberal]

9. Maybe he is just a moderate Democrat...maybe I'm too liberal...n/t

[saltpoint]

2. The more I read on Schweitzer the better I like him. /nt

[snowbear]

4. Those LUCKY Montanans love him!!

He's a down to Earth, Montana born, horse loving, Rancher who the residents of the Big Sky Country are extremely proud of.

He's a Democrat.. What's not to love??

[ruggerson]

5. He's also an authentic cowboy

versus a fake one like George Allen. Or the brush cutter.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

6. I remember hearing him on Air America once.

Marc Maron asked Schweitzer what he thought of Bush's cowboy getup, and he replied (paraphrsing), "Aww, isn't he cute?" :rofl:

[snowbear]

7. And only a Democrat would ................

... let his dog sit on his lap while signing a bill into law!!

[saltpoint]

8. I don't blame 'em one bit. Montana Democrats seem to be

enjoying a kind of renaissance these days.

It would be great to have Sen. Burns replaced by Jon Tester, too.

[skipos]

10. I'd like some good non-senators from flippable red states on our 08 ticket

and he qualifies.

[Tom Rinaldo]

11. He does, and everything I hear about him makes me like him more

I don't want him on top of our ticket though, I want someone with more seasoning regarding world affairs, like Clark or Gore. Clark is my first choice, and you will note he in a non-Senator from a flippable Red State, Arkansas.