Personally, I think he’s done a great job: He’s a friend of education (which is my #1 priority in politics), and he’s kept the state in the black (though of course he doesn’t deserve all the credit for that). And most of the state agrees-- He’s one of the most approved-of governors in the country.
The big question, of course, is that there are a lot of nationally-significant issues that don’t really come up at the state issue, and I don’t know how he stands on those. But then, that’s largely true of any governor.
Schweitzer is a great governor who seems to be having an enormous amount of fun in the process despite (or perhaps because of) a sometimes very hostile legislature. But so much of his schtick is uniquely Montanan, I don’t know how much of it would really translate into national office. I do also think that his claim that national office would be a step down in his mind isn’t just the same old insincerely modest line most candidates use. I think it’d be great if he ran, but I don’t know how well the rest of the country would respond to him.
I dunno… I’m not a native Montanan, and at the time I first voted for him, I didn’t even really consider myself a Montanan at all. But he still appealed to me just fine. And of course, even if he doesn’t appeal at the national level, that’s at least partly due to the fact that so far, he hasn’t been trying to.
Keep an eye peeled for Mark Warner of Virginia. He might be the most popular high profile Virginian since Robert E Lee. He gave the 2008 keynote for a reason.
His biggest appeal to the GOP base is that he is rude. But how well is yelling at teachers going to go over outside the base voters as a reason to vote for someone? The novelty of rudeness will wear off.
Plus he wouldn’t survive a primary. He has called the sharia law pushers crazy before. There goes his evangelical support.
Right now Schweitzer is taking a lesson from Vermont and asking for a federal waiver so he can create a more socialized health care system than the federal affordable care act. He wants legislation that would give Montana a system similar to the Canadian Saskatchewan system.
If he succeeds (and even if he doesn’t, just so long as it looks like he is sincere) that will give him a lot of pull with progressives come 2016.
A governor who signs a law creating a state wide socialized health care system will be treated like a king by progressives and liberals IMO. I think liberals make up 16-20% of the electorate, so nearly 40% of the democratic party is liberals. That alone (plus labor support if he is seen as pro-worker) should push him through the primary if he runs.
I can’t see the economy still being in the tank and the Dems arguing that Obama did good things while it’s still Bush’s fault and the incumbent Republican did even worse things.
I can see some Democrats making his 2012 loss about race but I can’t see that working. I guess I can see them threatening to destroy the party if the rest didn’t go along though.
Well, kinda, but not for a hundred bucks. It’ll be Qin’s baseball glove against Diver’s skateboard. Not the cool one with the Tony Hawk logo; the Power Rangers one he hasn’t used for a couple of years…
Wow, when you describe him like that, you almost want to make me vote for him!
I don’t think Biden should be ruled out as a 2016 candidate, although certainly not a favorite to win. Clinton has to be seen as the front runner though, although I believe her negatives are pretty high (i.e. a lot of people really hate her).
Either he’ll be quietly talked into not running (if he doesn’t come to that conclusion on his own, as I consider most likely), or he’ll win the nomination. I can’t see anyone seriously running against a sitting VP, from within the same party.
