Playboy Interview: Brian Schweitzer

[Ptah]

From the moment he entered the Montana governor’s office in 2005, Brian Schweitzer
made it clear he was going to be a very different kind of politician. In place of a tailored
suit and repp tie, he wore jeans and a bolo tie. One of his frequent companions in his
inner sanctum was Jag, his border collie. When he vetoed bills sent to him by the
Republican legislature, he used a branding iron. Whether it was his branding iron or his
brand of Democratic politics—he’s a tax-cutting, pro-gun social liberal—Schweitzer was
reelected in 2008 by a two-to-one landslide and remained one of the most polarizing
governors in the nation throughout his eight years in office. That same year he all but
tore the roof off the Democratic National Convention with a speech that had political
experts asking, “Could this be where a Schweitzer presidential journey begins?” It was
the most improbable of journeys for the descendant of German and Irish immigrants,
whose parents never finished high school and who had worked as an agronomist,
a soil scientist and a rancher before his first run for political office at the age of 45.



http://www.playboy.com/articles/playboy-interview-brian-schweitzer

[murielm99]

1. I heard him speak a few years ago,

at Governor's Day in Illinois. He spoke about the history of health care in Canada, and how it started there, piecemeal, with some of the usual objections. I was impressed by him and his history.

[silvershadow]

2. I have only disagreed with him a time or two. We could do worse. nt

[grasswire]

3. thank you for this

Schweitzer: Brilliant, accomplished, NOT a GD lawyer, not beholden to TPTB. Outspoken, and no weasel.

If he got serious about running, he'd likely be wellstoned.

I hope he does run. The debates would be worth watching.

[grasswire]

4. the more I ponder this interview...

....the more I yearn for someone with these kinds of fresh ideas, willing to break out of the old calcified narrative that we've been fed for so long.