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Brian Schweitzer (D)

1. Why He Matters
2. At a Glance
3. Path to Power
1. 3.1. 2000 Senate Race
2. 3.2. 2004 Governor’s Race
3. 3.3. Example to National Democrats
4. 3.4. As Governor
4. The Issues
1. 4.1. Energy
2. 4.2. REAL ID
3. 4.3. Guns
5. The Network

Current Position: Governor of Montana (since 2005)

Credit: Governor's office

Table of Contents

1. Why He Matters
2. At a Glance
3. Path to Power
1. 3.1. 2000 Senate Race
2. 3.2. 2004 Governor’s Race
3. 3.3. Example to National Democrats
4. 3.4. As Governor
4. The Issues
1. 4.1. Energy
2. 4.2. REAL ID
3. 4.3. Guns
5. The Network

Why He Matters

Ever since Schweitzer broke a 16-year Republican hold on the governor’s office in ruby red Montana in 2004 - the same year President George W. Bush carried the state by 20 percentage points - Democrats have held the burly rancher up as a role model for national candidates hoping to reconnect with working-class and rural voters.

Schweitzer will step down after his second term ends in 2012 and speculation about his political future has intensified since his house-rocking performance at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Yet, questions remain about where to fit on the Democrats’ presidential farm team a gun-toting prairie populist who speaks Arabic and how Schweitzer would be received outside a state where cattle outnumber people 3-to-1.Karen E. Crummy, “Dems look to Big Sky,” Denver Post, Nov. 26, 2006.

“You know, all these people are saying, ‘To be governor of Montana, he must have it figured out,’” Schweitzer, ever the anti-politician, once said. “I'm telling you, I've broken more colts than there are days that I've been in office. I'm just a regular guy, getting things done in Montana. I don't know if that works nationally, but I don't care.” Tim Grieve, “Life of the Party,” Salon, April 19, 2005.

At a Glance

Current Position: Governor of Montana (since 2005)

Career History: Rancher, businessman

Birthday: Sept. 4, 1955

Hometown: Whitefish, Mont.

Alma Mater: B.S., Colorado State University, 1978. M.S., Montana State University, 1980.

Spouse: Nancy Hupp Schweitzer

Religion: Catholic

Office:
Office of the Governor
Montana State Capitol Bldg.
P.O. Box 200801
Helena MT 59620-0801
(406) 444-3111, FAX (406) 444-5529

Web site

Path to Power

Brian David Schweitzer says he’s a “pickup-driving, God-fearing, gun-toting, red-meat-eating, take-responsibility-for-my-actions, invest-in-education kind of Democrat.”Karen E. Crummy, “Dems look to Big Sky,” Denver Post, Nov. 26, 2006.
Which is to say, he’s not much like Democrats who live on America’s coasts or in its big cities.

Born on a Havre, Mont., cattle ranch, Schweitzer is the fourth of six kids raised by a Kay and Adam Schweitzer and the grandson of homesteaders from Ireland and Germany who settled in Big Sky country.Schweitzer Campaign Web Site He went on to college in Colorado and Montana earning degrees in soil science and mopping floors at sororities to help pay his way.David Sirota, “Top Billings: How a Montana Democrat bagged the hunting and fishing vote, and won the governor's mansion,” Washington Monthly, December 2004.

He married Nancy Hupp, who he met in college, in 1981 Schweitzer Campaign Web Site and flew to the Middle East where he spent years installing hundreds of miles of irrigation pipe to turn 28,000 acres of Saudi Arabian desert into farm land to help the Saudis reduce their dependence on America for wheat.Daniel Schorn, “Montana’s Coal Cowboy,” CBS/”60 Minutes,” Feb. 26, 2006.

The couple returned home to Montana in 1986 to start a family, run a cattle ranch, grow mint and build an irrigation business.Karen E. Crummy, “Dems look to Big Sky,” Denver Post, Nov. 26, 2006. “I’m just a rancher who ended up governor of Montana,” he likes to say.Mark Sundeen, “The Big-Sky Dem,” New York Times Magazine, Oct. 8, 2006.

2000 Senate Race

In 1993, Schweitzer was appointed to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agencyin the Clinton administration.In 1999, he madehis first run for office for a U.S. Senate seat held by incumbent Republican Sen. Conrad Burns.Schweitzer Campaign Web Site Burns was not supposed to be up for re-election. He had pledged to limit himself to two terms when he first ran for office in 1988, but he broke that pledge, saying, “Circumstances have changed and I’ve rethought my position.” George Will, “Term limit promises fall by the wayside,” Wilmington, N.C., Morning Star, June 24, 1999.

Schweitzer beat his opponent, John Driscoll, 2-to-1 in the 2000 Democratic primary, though in Montana, where fewer than 1 million people are scattered among 94 million acres, Schweitzer’s impressive 66 percent of the total amounted to just 59,000 votes.Karen E. Crummy, “Dems look to Big Sky” Denver Post, Nov. 26, 2006. Schweitzer quickly turned his attention to Burns, who not only hurt himself politically by breaking his term-limit pledge but also caused an uproar during a speech on high gas prices when he referred to Arabs as “ragheads.”Jim VandeHei, “Comments Haunt Another Senator Montana's Burns Joked About Latinos,” Washington Post, Aug. 23, 2006.

Schweitzer gained national attention during the campaign as the first candidate to organize a prescription drug-buying trip to Canada as a protest against higher U.S. health-care costs, particularly for seniors. “This is about embarrassing Congress,” said Schweitzer, whose brother, Mike, a physician, arranged for Schweitzer’s passengers to get prescriptions from a Canadian doctor, as the law required.David E. Rosenbaum, “Candidate Hits Road With Health-Costs Crusade,” New York Times, Dec. 15, 1999

Excited by Schweitzer’s innovation on the issue, national Democrats invited him to Washington to speak at a fundraiser for the Senate campaign committee. But Schweitzer embarrassed his hosts by ripping into drug-industry lobbyists who were in attendance. When then-Sen. Bob Torricelli (D-N.J.) tried to apologize to the lobbyists, Schweitzer’s legend back home grew - as did his number of campaign stunts. David Sirota, “Top Billings: How a Montana Democrat bagged the hunting and fishing vote, and won the governor's mansion,” Washington Monthly, December 2004.

At the state capital, Schweitzer arranged for armed guards to spill a suitcase full of cash on the floor in front of reporters to highlight how much out-of-state money Burns was receiving. At another rally he appeared with a giant check for $4 million made out to Burns from special interest groups that contributed to the incumbent’s campaign.David Sirota, “Top Billings: How a Montana Democrat bagged the hunting and fishing vote, and won the governor's mansion,” Washington Monthly, December 2004

Schweitzer lost only narrowly to Burns, 51 percent to 48 percent, but he’d done well enough that when the next opportunity to run for statewide office came up in 2004 - this time for governor - he jumped at it.

2004 Governor’s Race

Schweitzer chose as his lieutenant governor running mate John Bohlinger, a Republican state senator and a small-business owner who was also a former Marine boxer who favored bow ties and once had to be physically restrained in a bar when someone mocked his neckwear.David Sirota, “Top Billings: How a Montana Democrat bagged the hunting and fishing vote, and won the governor's mansion,” Washington Monthly, December 2004 And, applying lessons learned in the Senate race, Schweitzer decided to push an issue that would cement his relations with the state’s rural, conservative voters: guns.David Sirota, “Top Billings: How a Montana Democrat bagged the hunting and fishing vote, and won the governor's mansion,” Washington Monthly, December 2004

Guns polled well not only among the state’s vast number of hunters but also among women, who saw it as a “Montana values” issue in a state with one of the nation’s highest gun-ownership rates and lowest violent-crime levels.David Sirota, “Top Billings: How a Montana Democrat bagged the hunting and fishing vote, and won the governor's mansion,” Washington Monthly, December 2004Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.), the Democratic presidential nominee that year, was openly mocked by Republicans when he donned hunting attire during the campaign, but Schweitzer was far more authentic on the issue - he once bought his wife a .38-caliber Smith & Wesson revolver for her birthday Karen E. Crummy, “Dems look to Big Sky,” Denver Post, Nov. 26, 2006. - and insulated himself from charges that he was a Kerry clone.David Sirota, “Top Billings: How a Montana Democrat bagged the hunting and fishing vote, and won the governor's mansion,” Washington Monthly, December 2004. Moreover, Schweitzer turned the gun issue against Republicans by taking up the cause of Montana hunters and fishermen who had lost access to private lands because of Republican policies that favored private-ownership rights over public access.David Sirota, “Top Billings: How a Montana Democrat bagged the hunting and fishing vote, and won the governor's mansion,” Washington Monthly, December 2004

The strategy not only appealed to conservative rural voters but also to liberal environmentalists who wanted to preserve more open public land and it portrayed the outdoorsmen as David to the Republican Party’s Goliath, a theme that resonated in other areas of the Schweitzer campaign message.David Sirota, “Top Billings: How a Montana Democrat bagged the hunting and fishing vote, and won the governor's mansion,” Washington Monthly, December 2004

Schweitzer beat his Republican challenger, Secretary of State Bob Brown, a fixture on the Montana political scene for two decades, 50 to 46 percent, on the same day PresidentGeorge W. Bush won the state by 20 percentage points.David Sirota, “Top Billings: How a Montana Democrat bagged the hunting and fishing vote, and won the governor's mansion,” Washington Monthly, December 2004 And Schweitzer’s coattails were long enough to help Democrats take control of the state Senate and four of five statewide offices.David Sirota, “Top Billings: How a Montana Democrat bagged the hunting and fishing vote, and won the governor's mansion,” Washington Monthly, December 2004

Example to National Democrats

Schweitzer’s victory is held up as an example for Democrats seeking to break Republicans’ hold on Red State America and at least five books published on the subject have mentioned the Montana governor since his 2004 victory and his easy 2008 re-election.Mark Sundeen, “The Big-Sky Dem,” New York Times Magazine, Oct. 8, 2006.

Schweitzer has no shortage of invitations to speak to fellow Democrats around the country and his address at the 2008 Democratic National Convention propelled him to much broader public attention when, in a speech on alternative energy, he rocked the convention hall Josh Zumbrun, “Schweitzer Speech Energizes the Convention," Forbes, Aug. 27, 2008. even though he had been sandwiched between that evening’s keynoter, former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner (D), and the day’s climactic speaker, then-Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, (D-N.Y.).Don Frederick, “Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer makes the most of the spotlight,” Los Angeles Times, Aug. 26, 2008.

An internet campaign has begun to draft Schweitzer for presidenthttp://schweitzerforpresident.blogspot.com/ and “Brian Schweitzer for President” T-shirts are now available online.http://www.cafepress.com/schweitzer

As Governor

Montana’s swaggering governor awakes every day at 4 a.m. and scans the national news, talk shows and blogs on his computer before heading into the office with his Border Collie, Jag, in tow. He’s almost always attired in the same anti-power suit: A sports jacket over an open-collar shirt, bolo tie, jeans and cowboy boots. Karen E. Crummy, “Dems look to Big Sky,” Denver Post, Nov. 26, 2006. His popularity ratings consistently hover around the 70 percent mark, among the highest of the nation’s governors. Karen E. Crummy, “Dems look to Big Sky,” Denver Post, Nov. 26, 2006

Schweitzer is wrestling with many of the same issues as other governors, including health-care costs and recession-induced budget deficits. But his top priority is alternative energy and his No. 1 goal - the “Big Kahuna,” he calls it - is to turn Montana into an energy supplier for most of the West, including Nevada and California.Karen E. Crummy, “Dems look to Big Sky,” Denver Post, Nov. 26, 2006 He recently gave up his Chevy Tahoe SUV for a Volkswagen Jetta that runs on biodiesel fuel.Mark Sundeen, “The Big-Sky Dem,” New York Times Magazine, Oct. 8, 2006.

He wants to invest $1.5 billion in technology that would turn coal - an abundant resource in Montana - into diesel fuel, which he said is needed to free America from the “sheiks and dictators and rats and crooks” who control the world’s oil supply, a dig at the Saudis for whom he worked for years to help them gain independence from American wheat.Daniel Schorn, “Montana’s Coal Cowboy,” CBS/”60 Minutes,” Feb. 26, 2006.

But Schweitzer’s initial foray onto the national scene was bumpy. Shortly after being named chairman of the Democratic Governors Association in December 2008, Schweitzer took the unusual step of endorsing Clinton insider and Democratic fundraiser Terry McAuliffe in Virginia’s Democratic gubernatorial primary in June 2009. Andy Barr, “Brian Schweitzer endorsing Terry McAuliffe,” Politico, June 5, 2009. Because the DGA chairman usually remains neutral in Democratic contests, Schweitzer’s appearance with McAuliffe spawned immediate speculation that Schweitzer wanted McAuliffe’s support for his own national political ambitions.Dan Balz, “Close Races in Virginia, New Jersey May Be Indicators for 2010," Washington Post, June 7, 2009

Making matters murkier was the fact that Schweitzer endorsed McAuliffe just as another Democrat, state Sen. Creigh Deeds, was surging in the polls, going on ultimately to win the nomination and embarrass Schweitzer. “Schweitzer's trip back East not a hit,” Associated Press/Washington Examiner, June 11, 2009.

The Issues

Schweitzer adheres to the Democratic Party line in supporting abortion rights and environmental regulation and opposing free-trade deals..Mark Sundeen, “The Big-Sky Dem,” New York Times Magazine, Oct. 8, 2006And he bucked the George W. Bush administration as much as any governor. When Bush pushed through the USA Patriot Act, expanding domestic spying powers, Schweitzer pardoned 78 Montanans who were arrested during World War I under a Patriot Act-forerunner, the national sedition act, simply for criticizing the federal government.Noam N. Levey, “Campaign ’08: Mountain West - Anxious Democrats go their own way,” Los Angeles Times, Sept. 30, 2007. He also requested that Bush bring Montana National Guardsmen home from Iraq so they could fight summer forest fires.Mark Sundeen, “The Big-Sky Dem,” New York Times Magazine, Oct. 8, 2006

But Schweitzer is more conservative than his party’s rank-and-file on economic and social issues like gun control, the death penalty, lower taxes and balanced budgets. And he harbors an innate distrust of the federal government, pushing back against what he sees as an overly intrusive federal government.Mark Sundeen, “The Big-Sky Dem,” New York Times Magazine, Oct. 8, 2006

Energy

In addition to wanting to turn coal into diesel fuel, Schweitzer has endorsed a massive expansion of wind, solar and biofuel technologies in Montana, including using wood chips from state forests ravaged by pine beetles into biofuel.Patrick Mazza, “Montana moving to top ranks in renewable energy, Gov. Brian Schweitzer tells Harvesting Clean Energy Conference,” Climate Solutions, Jan 30, 2009 He chastised Republicans for suggesting that the country could produce enough oil on its own to break its dependence on Middle East suppliers.“Brian Schweitzer is Your Barack Obama,” New Republic, Aug. 27, 2008 Schweitzer also embraced energy conservation, ordering the most aggressive mileage standard in the nation for state-owned vehicles and a 20 percent reduction in energy use in state buildings.Patrick Mazza, “Montana moving to top ranks in renewable energy, Gov. Brian Schweitzer tells Harvesting Clean Energy Conference,” Climate Solutions, Jan 30, 2009

REAL ID

When the federal government in 2005 approved legislation, known as REAL ID, that, among other things, required states to share data on residents with the federal government, Schweitzer refused to go along, telling the Department of Homeland Security in a letter that the federal government could not be trusted with so much information on its citizens. The federal government responded by forcing anyone who tried to board a plane with a Montana driver’s license to undergo an additional security search.Ryan Singe, “Threat Level Privacy, Crime and Security Online Montana Governor: DHS ‘Blinks’ on Real ID,” Wired magazine, March 21, 2008.

Guns

Schweitzer signed into law legislation that bars the federal government from regulating firearms and ammunition manufactured exclusively in Montana.Declan McCullagh, “Gun Rights Groups Plan State-By-State Revolt," CBS News, June 16, 2009.The new law takes affect Oct. 1, 2009, and would exempt the state’s gun buyers from background checks and sellers from record-keeping requirements, though not even supporters of the pending law expect it to survive an inevitable court challenge.Declan McCullagh, “Gun Rights Groups Plan State-By-State Revolt," CBS News, June 16, 2009 Still, Schweitzer and other supports of the law say that even if it is struck down it sends an important message to the federal government that it is overreaching on a variety of policies, including education, civil rights and land use.Mark Z. Barabak, “Western states want reins on federal power,” Los Angeles Times, June 16, 2009.

The Network

Schweitzer helped cement Democratic control of Montana in 2006 by campaigning for Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) against the man Schweitzer nearly defeated six years earlier, Sen. Conrad Burns, (R-Mont.). Tester, then president of the state Senate, narrowly beat Burns, who was further damaged politically since his 2000 re-election by ties to corrupt lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Tester’s election marked the first time since 1989 that Democrats held both of the state’s Senate seats.Mark Sundeen, “The Big-Sky Dem,” New York Times Magazine, Oct. 8, 2006

The same year he was helping Tester, Schweitzer went to Colorado to help Democrat Bill Ritter, a former Denver district attorney who, like Schweitzer, was popular with rural voters who typically voted Republican. Ritter’s victory created what Schweitzer called a “blue bridge from Alberta to Mexico,” a string of Democratic governorships stretching across Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona — all states won by Bush in 2004. Mark Sundeen, “The Big-Sky Dem,” New York Times Magazine, Oct. 8, 2006

Though he was head of the Democratic Governors Association, which typically remains neutral in Democratic primaries, Schweitzer endorsed McAuliffe in Virginia’s June 2009 Democratic gubernatorial primary even as McAuliffe was slipping in the polls. Schweitzer described McAuliffe, a close ally of Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton and a major Democratic fundraiser, as a friend and “businessman like myself” and deemed him the best man for the job even though McAuliffe ultimately lost.Jennifer Skalka, “Nat’l Dem Establishment Rallies To McAuliffe’s Aid,” National Journal/Hotline On Call, June 5, 2009.Befuddled Democrats speculated that Schweitzer was hoping to enlist McAuliffe’s help with his own national political ambitions.Dan Balz, “Close Races in Virginia, New Jersey May Be Indicators for 2010," Washington Post, June 7, 2009.

SideBar

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