Schweitzer's convention speech

Brian Schweitzer once told me he felt at home speaking to a crowd of thousands. I believed him because I'd seen him speak to large crowds around Montana. But stumping in his own backyard is different than speaking from the floor of the Democratic National Convention.

I didn't know what to expect from Schweitzer last night. I figured he'd be comfortable, but would he be proper and reserved or would he be the Brian Schweitzer people around the state have come to know: irreverent, unpredictable and unscripted.

I didn't see his entire speech. I was watching the convention on public television and while the pundits were talking about Hillary Clinton's spot in history, I could hear Schweitzer voice in the background and the crowd gaining momentum. Finally, as if they were turning to breaking news coverage, Jim Lehrer gave the camera to Schweitzer.

And he was just getting rolling, calling for people to stand up and shout. He was hollering for change and energy independence. He even threw in a few mentions of "Obama."

Since I missed much of his speech, I turned to the coverage of the event this morning.

Robert Struckman and Jill Kuraitis of NewWest.Net covered the speech from different positions (physically) at the convention.

Struckman wrote a straightfoward piece on Schweitzer's speech.

When giving speeches, Schweitzer doesn't like to use notes. But for the DNC he had to prepare a speech, but apparently the prepared remarks weren't cutting it. So Schweitzer went freestyle, according to Struckman.

Maybe it was the modest response, but Schweitzer changed his tactic a bit, seeming to break a bit from his prepared speech. He stumbled on his words, talking about his family with its roots on the high plains. He got folksy, and the arena reacted.

“Let me ask you something,” he said, leaning in close to the microphone as if about to say something in confidence. “Can we afford four more years?”

“No,” came the answer roaring back.

Schweitzer stepped back from the microphone, turned to look to the side, and said, “Not bad.” It was clear he was talking about the response. “Is it time for a change?” he hollered.

From then on, the crowd was in his hand. He got the crowd shouting for Barack, and then he broke out, saying, “That’s right! Barack Obama. That’s right!

The reaction surprised everybody – pundits and casual viewers alike. Kuraitis was somewhere in the bowels of the Pepsi Center when Schweitzer took the stage. She was able to record some of the casual remarks she heard.

In that hallway, nobody but me was listening when Schweitzer began. But within just a few minutes, Pepsi Center workers began to pause at their jobs and hang around the screens. Journalists and political staff did the same. The center of the hall was still a thruway, but now many Schweitzer-watchers leaned on the walls.

When Schweitzer hit one of his winning applause lines or did his twinkly-eyes thing, the housekeeper standing next to me, Lorena, would clap and laugh. “Why didn’t you people nominate HIM?” she wanted to know.

A very young Biden staffer turned to his co-worker, leaned over and said, “Geez. Learn something from that guy.” They nodded in conspiracy.

“Who the hell is that?” asked a reporter from Maryland. I told him. “Montana? Montana has a guy who can burn a barn like that?” he asked.

Other journalists around the country seemed to be surprised by Schweitzer, particularly when you compare him with Mark Warner, the man who was supposed to receive much of pre-Hillary attention Tuesday night.

Andrew Romano from Newsweek pulled for Schweitzer to get his own keynote address:

He relished ragging on the Republicans, launching a call-and-response chant--"Can we afford four more years? (No!) Is it time for change? (Yes!) When do we need it? (Now!)"--and exhorting the party, amid rapturous applause and his own Tammany Hall gesticulations, to "stand up!" He even managed to sneak in an eloquent explanation, grounded in his Montana governorship, of why "we need new energy system that's clean and green and American-made." "We simply can't drill our way to energy independence" he said. "Even if you drilled in all of John McCain's backyards--including the ones he can't even remember." One idea, one hook. And he did all while wearing a bolo tie. As Schweitzer finished his remarks, the hall went crazy. "That's what's supposed to happen at the end of a keynote speech," said one of my fellow hacks. Seriously. It was like watching a waistcoat-wearing rabble-rouser circa 1934. It was, in other words, fun.

L.A. Times reporter, Peter Wallsten, wrote about how Schweitzer stole the show by giving Democrats what they wanted and needed: "It was purely partisan red meat on a pocketbook issue -- exactly what some Democratic strategists have said was lacking from the convention when the sagging economy is at the forefront of voters' minds."

Good news for Schweitzer, who I predict will be considered for a cabinet position should Obama get elected.

Lively Times review

Just noticed the Lively Times reviewed the book for their August issue. Here's an excerpt:

How this remarkably savvy politician, once dubbed by a CNN reporter as the “Rock Star from the Rockies,” has garnered national attention and become a popular Democratic governor in a state that was seen as increasingly Republican, is a story worth telling.

Schweitzer, writes former Congressman Pat Williams in the book’s foreword, “fits our changing economic and political landscape. Neither all liberal, conservative, not populist, Schweitzer has been able to stride the fault lines of our changing western landscape.”

NewWest.Net Interview

Jenny Shank just posted an interview she did with me on NewWest.Net. Jenny asked some interesting questions, so take a look if you get a chance. Also when I get a transcript of Schweitzer's speech at the convention tomorrow, I'll post it along with some links to the news coverage of it.

Excerpts, reviews and other things

Over the past two months, press and publicity on "Blue Man in a Red State" has been gaining some momentum. In late July both NewWest.Net and PoliticsWest.com published excerpts from the book. Joan McCarter, who blogs as mcjoan for the DailyKos and is a Mad Voter blogger for NewWest.Net also wrote a review of the book. Here's an piece of it:

Lemon’s book provides an excellent sketch of the career of this unlikely Montanan, from his family’s ranch near Geyser, to a Catholic high school in Colorado, to Libya and Saudi Arabia, where he headed up some experimental and innovative agricultural programs, and learned more about the middle east than arguably any other governor in the country--and understanding that has made him a vociferous opponent of the Iraq War. What drove Schweitzer to politics isn’t entirely clear, His emergence from nowhere to seriously challenge Senator Conrad Burns in 2000 still has some Montanans baffled, but after that solid run, his taking the governor’s seat in 2004 seemed to surprise few.

The book is most instructive, in my opinion, for political watchers and hopeful Democrats looking to the west for clues on how to turn this region Blue when Lemon gets down to the populist part of his portrait of Montana and the Governor. While Lemon is still focusing on the well-established paradigm of Gods, guns, and gays, he doesn’t notice that Schweitzer has managed to put that stuff by the wayside with significant success. What’s driving Schweitzer’s political will is a deep-seated conviction to the common good.

Schweitzer is speaking at the Democratic National Convention next Tuesday. Will this be Schweitzer's Obama-esque moment in the spotlight? Time will tell. I get the sense that Democrats aren't really sure what to expect from Schweitzer who still seems to be more legend than reality to national journalists. Take the description of Schweitzer in this AP article from today.

GOV. BRIAN SCHWEITZER: Montana's governor keeps a rifle in his office, often wears boots and is seen as the kind of Democrat who can appeal to white men. A 2004 victor in staunch Republican country, Schweitzer has said he plans to use his address to discuss energy, especially oil and gas development in the Mountain West.

On a personal note, part of the reason I've neglected to keep the blog updated is I've started a new job in Bozeman as editor of The Sun newspaper. We're a small weekly covering Bozeman and the surrounding areas. Check us out.

First Readings

My first two book readings and signings took place yesterday – one in Missoula and one in Hamilton. The Governor and Pat Williams showed for the reading in Missoula at Fact & Fiction on Campus. They both answered several questions about politics and issues in the region and the state. The Missoulian has a story on the event in today's paper, complete with audio from my short reading.

Here's an excerpt from the article:

When asked if there was something Lemon would have liked to include in the book, he said he would have loved to have interviewed Schweitzer's childhood friends, his 4-H pals and the people who influenced him early on.

Asked if there was something he wished could be changed about the book, Schweitzer said he would have liked to have had more about his ideas and less about himself.

At Chapter One in Hamilton, the event lacked the major headliners, but was entertaining. Many local friends turned out and asked some interesting questions and wanted to know both about Schweitzer and the book writing process.

Interview on West Fork Blues Blog

I did an interview about Blue Man/Red State with Francis H. Woods  on is blog West Fork Blues. The questions were interesting, thorough and entertaining. Thanks Mr. Woods.

Missoula Independent piece

The Missoula Independent  published a review of the book today. Here's a short piece of it:

Drinking coffee at a small table in the River Rising bistro in downtown Hamilton, Lemon is as about as far from Helena or Washington, D.C., as could be, and he likes it that way. The former environmental and outdoor reporter for the Ravalli Republic and current politics editor at NewWest.net, describes himself as an “a-political” writer. He seems more content keeping up with sports scores and fly-fishing the Bitterroot than tapping into the nation’s political pulse.  

“I had to become a political junkie,” Lemon says. “By the end of writing the book, I had to follow politics like I follow sports. Every morning instead of clicking on ESPN, I clicked on Real Clear Politics or the Huffington Post, going through all the daily headlines."

:Note the reading at Fact & Fiction on Campus July 9 is at 2 p.m. The reading at Chapter One in Hamilton is at 7 p.m. the same day.