Brian Schweitzer, a 51-year-old farmer and irrigation contractor is presently govenor of Montana and a darling of the Democrat Party. According to an in-depth look in New York Times Magazine, some Democrats think Schweitzer’s brand of fresh air could sweep across the region and maybe even go national.
Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas Zuniga puts it this way:
“Schweitzer is the antithesis of the Democrat stereotype. Too many Democrats look like targets for the school bully. Schweitzer is a tough guy. And people like guys who will bar-fight their way across a state.”
The article leaves no one doubting this man’s political abilities. He picked a Republican as a running mate, for one. Proving you can work across party lines is something we rarely see today. Yet, we need to see it regularly.
Here’s another interesting passage from the article:
As fertile as the West may seem for Democrats, some in the party remain skeptical that it matters much. “The problem with the Democrats is that they can’t count,” Dave (Mudcat) Saunders, a Democratic campaign strategist, said. Saunders’ book, Foxes in the Henhouse, argues that the party would be wrong to focus on the West and ignore the South. He notes that 30 percent of the country’s electoral votes come from the South, and that by 2025 that percentage will be 40. “Georgia and Florida have as many votes as all the West put together,” Saunders points out.
While Saunders makes an important point about how power works, let’s not overlook the power of one man to inspire many. John F. Kennedy did it when this nation needed it most. We’re at that place again. We need men and women of character to step up.