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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsPolitico: Schweitzer joins MSNBC
HELENA The online news site Politico is reporting that former Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer has joined the cable news network MSNBC as a contributor...an MSNBC spokesperson confirmed that Schweitzer had joined the network.
Schweitzer did not immediately return a phone call from the Tribune seeking comment.
The fast-talking bombastic Democrat, who recently told Montana reporters that he didnt want to be on the liberal-leaning cable news network, appeared on MSNBCs The Ed Show in what the host, Ed Schultz, referred to as Schweitzers first appearance as an MSNBC contributor.
Schweitzer, a major backer of the Keystone XL pipeline when he was governor of Montana, used his appearance on The Ed Show to promote the construction of the pipeline, which would transport oil sands crude from northern Alberta to refineries along the Gulf of Mexico.
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http://www.greatfallstribune.com/article/20140226/NEWS01/302260023
ColumbusLib
(158 posts)It will be interesting to see how Schweitzer does as he gets more exposure. Being a Democrat in Montana is a tricky dance...
onehandle
(51,122 posts)cthulu2016
(10,960 posts)It's an excellent way for him to raise his profile. He can then leave if he decides to run.
rsmith6621
(6,942 posts)He has never been on the board of Walmart or taken nearly a million $$$ in speaking fees from Goldman Sachs.
Maybe a Dean/Schweitzer ticket would be nice.
Beacool
(30,254 posts)freshwest
(53,661 posts)But some have expressed support for him here at DU. I wonder how many will cling to him despite those controversial issues as he promotes them on MSNBC.
Keystone will make the Koches $100 billion richer. So where does that put him in the grand scheme of things?
I suspect some of the anti-Obama and anti-Hillary forces will join forces to get a guy who seems to meet their other criteria.
I just don't know what's going to happen as we go into 2016. I hope he does nothing to propel GOP victories in 2014.
spanone
(135,924 posts)freshwest
(53,661 posts)he wants it, although he and the Democrars have held it off since it was proposed in 2007, with continued threats since Obama put it off in 2009. They are still getting people in different states to vote for people to have it put through, and some of it has been built. Then the sabotage of Amtrak traffic by overloading the passenger routes with oil from Canada, and the threat of sending it to Pacific ports as well, a squeeze play. I don't know if I could support a guy who is that close to the project and the Koches. Perhaps DU will change its collective mind on this issue watching him on the Ed show. Ed supports it, too.
Beacool
(30,254 posts)MindMover
(5,016 posts)Whose time is short ...
BlueEye
(449 posts)He's a liberal with some very populist Montana views. Hard-working middle class people in Montana like guns. They like petroleum industry jobs. Although I personally disagree with some of Schweitzer's positions, I commend him for serving the people who elected him.
murielm99
(30,782 posts)I have family in Montana, and have heard Schweitzer speak, on the subject of health care. He had to deal with a tea bagger legislature, too, and did a good job of it.
I was kind of hoping he would run for President some time down the road. He is still young enough to do that!
MindMover
(5,016 posts)And the Obama bashing has to stop ... if he even wants to come close to the primaries ...
And using the word commendable in the same sentence as serving is like, who are you his chief ...
BlueEye
(449 posts)a Canadian-style single payer system to Montana. Once upon a time, many of the Western states were very progressive, mainly because of populist liberals in the tradition of people like "Fighting Bob" La Follette. That's what Schweitzer is/was. Western populism may be distasteful to progressives from more urban locales, but I think we should tolerate it if it means we could turn more Western states blue.
People got up-in-arms about the Obama bashing. It was surprising to hear a high profile Democrat do it in such unabashed terms. But his critique was mostly to the left of the President! Anyone who thinks a single payer system would be preferable to the Affordable Care Act... I won't hold that against them, in fact I agree wholeheartedly.
I don't bother talking about Democratic primaries anymore. If Hillary runs, it's a done deal, whether we like it or not.