Montana governor creates buzz with DNC speech

By MATT GOURAS Associated Press Writer And DANIEL PERSON Chronicle staff writer

HELENA - Gov. Brian Schweitzer, who used libertarian politics and a bipartisan ticket to bust through years of Republican dominance in Montana, is enjoying the spotlight of the Democratic Party’s biggest stage.

The governor created quite a buzz at the Democratic National Convention in Denver with his bolo tie, jeans and cowboy boots - along with a rip-roaring speech Tuesday that brought a crowd of thousands to its feet.

Schweitzer touted the Democrats’ energy plan, while criticizing Republican John McCain as beholden to big oil companies.

“We simply can’t drill our way to energy independence,” he said in a line that was replayed on the cable news networks. “If you drilled everywhere, if you drilled in all of John McCain’s backyards, even the ones he doesn’t know he has ... that single proposition is a dry well.”

Although hobnobbing with the Democratic leadership, Schweitzer said his independent roots haven’t changed. The Tuesday speech, he said, was full of the stuff he’s been talking about in Montana for four years.

And while his presence on the convention stage seems to be turning heads, whether the reaction carried smiles or frowns was divided down the party aisle.

“For the Montana delegation, clearly the highlight of Tuesday was Brian Schweitzer getting the crowd fired up for Hillary (Clinton),” state Sen. Larry Jent, D-Bozeman, said Tuesday, speaking from Denver. “The reactions to Gov. Schweitzer were really amazing. He had everybody on their feet, just screaming and hollering… . Montana has one guy that can really do it.”

But Montana Republican Party Chairman Erik Iverson said Wednesday that Schweitzer was using flawed data to get his applause.

“It was a blown opportunity for Brian Schweitzer. He came off as high partisan with a full frontal attack on John McCain,” Iverson said. The speech was “highly partisan, highly inaccurate.”

Schweitzer said Wednesday that it was “silly” that people were saying he had become an instant Democratic Party celebrity.

“Frankly, what I did last night is something I have done a fair bit of in Montana,” he said. “It’s just there were a fair bit of people there to see it.”

There were some key differences, including the use of prepared remarks - a rarity for a governor who likes to shoot from the hip.

“I didn’t stay on the script that much,” he said. “It’s not really my style to be reading from the script.”

Whatever he did worked. Pundits lauded the speech, going so far as to compare it to the speech Barack Obama’s gave four years ago that thrust the little-known U.S. Senate candidate from Illinois onto the national political stage.

“Now do you guys see why I champion Schweitzer so much?” blogger Markos Moulitsas of the Daily Kos Web site wrote after the governor’s speech. “The man will be president one day. Heck, sign me up right now for his 2016 effort.”

Members of the Montana delegation also offered their praise Wednesday.

“He just lit up that convention center,” said state Rep. JP Pomnichowski, D-Bozeman. “It was really inspiring for a lot of people in the hall to be offered an alternative.”

Obama liked it, too.

“He was getting folks fired up,” Obama said while campaigning in Billings on Wednesday. “Some people called me after that and said, ‘Is everybody in Montana like Schweitzer?’ I said, ‘No he’s unique, even for Montana he’s a pretty unique guy.’ But he just did an unbelievable job.”

Schweitzer, who keeps a rifle in his office, has always known what makes a good show.

Before becoming governor, he nearly toppled a sitting U.S. senator with such theatrics as dumping $47,000 in cash onto a table in the Capitol rotunda to illustrate his opponent’s contributions from big tobacco. He also got headlines for driving busloads of seniors to Canada for cheap prescription drugs.

Ever since, state Republicans have tried - with little luck - to dismiss him as a “show horse.” And now he is getting more attention.

“Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer did the equivalent of summiting Everest for the first time yesterday, getting the crowd to roar while discussing renewable energy,” Jimmy Orr wrote while blogging for The Christian Science Monitor.

Over the years, Schweitzer has consistently dismissed politics in Washington, D.C., saying he can’t stand the “stench.” And while he was fighting to be the first Democratic governor in Montana in 16 years, he kept a fair distance from national party leaders and their ideas.

Now he is forcefully backing Obama and says the candidate can become the rare Democrat to carry Montana in the presidential election. He points to Obama’s five visits to the state, including one Wednesday, a full-time campaign staff of 40 in the state, and a long roster of volunteers.

“It’s the most sophisticated, organized campaign in the history of presidential politics in Montana,” Schweitzer said.

But is Schweitzer getting too cozy to the national Democratic politics he once spurned? Does a speech filled with hits on Republican John McCain put a tarnish on the bipartisanship that he trumpets back home?

Iverson said he was surprised by Schweitzer’s tone.

“In a state where overt partisanship is frowned upon, that speech is probably not going to go over well for those Montanans that saw it,” Iverson said.

Schweitzer said he was not attacking McCain, but rather pointing out why the Republican has the wrong energy plan.

“There’s a whole lot of people who are Republicans around America that agree with me,” Schweitzer said. “They are going to be shocked when they find their standard-bearer does not agree with them.”

Iverson said Obama is out of touch with Montana when it comes to energy policy.

Obama has called coal “dirty energy that he wants to tax,” Iverson said. “That shows how out of step with Montana Barack Obama is when it comes to energy.”

But Pomnichowski said Schweitzer “positioned Montana as a leading source of innovation.”

“We are a premier source of non-oil energy sources,” she said. “He (Schweitzer) put that front and center in people’s mind. People don’t think of Montana for energy, but they do now.”

Schweitzer said his support of Obama has more to do with ideas and less about politics. That’s why he is trumpeting Obama as the best choice to produce domestic energy heavy on alternative sources like wind and solar.

“That is not even close to being partisan,” Schweitzer said. “That is the future of Montana; that is the future of this country.”

Yet Schweitzer is still relishing the attention.

“I enjoyed it,” Schweitzer said. “Did it show?”

Associated Press writers Matthew Brown in Billings and Matt Gouras in Helena contributed to this report.

Reader Comments