It will be interesting to see how Schweitzer does as he gets more exposure. Being a Democrat in Montana is a tricky dance...

It's an excellent way for him to raise his profile. He can then leave if he decides to run.

But some have expressed support for him here at DU. I wonder how many will cling to him despite those controversial issues as he promotes them on MSNBC.

Keystone will make the Koches $100 billion richer. So where does that put him in the grand scheme of things?

I suspect some of the anti-Obama and anti-Hillary forces will join forces to get a guy who seems to meet their other criteria.

I just don't know what's going to happen as we go into 2016. I hope he does nothing to propel GOP victories in 2014.

he wants it, although he and the Democrars have held it off since it was proposed in 2007, with continued threats since Obama put it off in 2009. They are still getting people in different states to vote for people to have it put through, and some of it has been built. Then the sabotage of Amtrak traffic by overloading the passenger routes with oil from Canada, and the threat of sending it to Pacific ports as well, a squeeze play. I don't know if I could support a guy who is that close to the project and the Koches. Perhaps DU will change its collective mind on this issue watching him on the Ed show. Ed supports it, too.

Whose time is short ...

He's a liberal with some very populist Montana views. Hard-working middle class people in Montana like guns. They like petroleum industry jobs. Although I personally disagree with some of Schweitzer's positions, I commend him for serving the people who elected him.

I have family in Montana, and have heard Schweitzer speak, on the subject of health care. He had to deal with a tea bagger legislature, too, and did a good job of it.

I was kind of hoping he would run for President some time down the road. He is still young enough to do that!

And the Obama bashing has to stop ... if he even wants to come close to the primaries ...

And using the word commendable in the same sentence as serving is like, who are you his chief ...

a Canadian-style single payer system to Montana. Once upon a time, many of the Western states were very progressive, mainly because of populist liberals in the tradition of people like "Fighting Bob" La Follette. That's what Schweitzer is/was. Western populism may be distasteful to progressives from more urban locales, but I think we should tolerate it if it means we could turn more Western states blue.

People got up-in-arms about the Obama bashing. It was surprising to hear a high profile Democrat do it in such unabashed terms. But his critique was mostly to the left of the President! Anyone who thinks a single payer system would be preferable to the Affordable Care Act... I won't hold that against them, in fact I agree wholeheartedly.


I don't bother talking about Democratic primaries anymore. If Hillary runs, it's a done deal, whether we like it or not.