Though we need to chew out MSNBC (really, I had better expectations of Keith & Chris) for TALKING OVER HIM THE WHOLE TIME. Grr. I'm really glad I was flipping back & forth to PBS to see who the speakers were; some of them were worth skipping for a national audience (sorry, union members) but to keep asking "where's the red meat" and then completely ignore the guy who delivered it -- even President Clinton said "good job" at the end of Schweitzer's talk, if my lip-reading skills are up to snuff.

Who makes the decision which speakers are covered? The convention, or the media?

In his WaPo chat, I asked Howie Kurtz why so little attention was paid to Leach during his speech, and he said it was because it wasn't broadcast (aside from CSPAN and PBS). I took the implication to be that the convention organizers had some say in which "featured" speakers would be televised.

Because otherwise, Kurtz would've just been saying that Leach got no coverage because he got no coverage.

Put me in the minority on this one. I liked WHAT he had to say, and several of his lines, but found him very off-putting (and I watched him on C-SPAN as I did most of the speeches).

I was very curious because so many people had been pushing him for VP, but I started squirming as soon as he came on. I couldn't pin it down, but my wife came close:

"Just think of him as a guy telling you how to lose weight on PBS during a Pledge Week."

Meh. I'm tired of the false premise that taxes are, a priori, a bad thing. If you get something for your taxes, especially if you get it more efficiently than you could through a private enterprise, then taxes aren't bad. Clean water, law enforcement, roads and other infrastructure, public health, education - these are all things that taxes provide far better than private enterprise.

Apparently they wouldn't let him bring Jag to the Pepsi Center. Schweitzer was charming, colorful and engaging, what our parents used to call a "character," and these are sadly lacking in politics these days. The crowd's response to him says it all.

In contrast, Sebelius seemed like she'd been buried three days ago and was speaking from the grave. The point is that we need different personality types in our party to appeal to different people.

I heard him on NPR a while back talking about the Real ID act. I know, it sounds dry, but trust me, you won't regret listening to this:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=87991791

Great speech, and we definitely need more people like this in the Democratic Party.

I liked how he included his faith but not as an introduction to how he would legislate morality to the rest of us.

His line "the petrodictators will never own American wind and American sunshine" was a great line.

He reminds me of Jimmy James on NewsRadio. Not a knock, just an observation.

Prup, I agree completely. I thought he was a character (which I said in the open convention thread last night) and, to me, it put me off a bit. The word that came to my mind was hokey.

I loved what he had to say but it was a tad too cartoonish for my tastes.

None the less, he gave a good speech and it was good theatre, and if you want infotainment, there it was (considering I am not finding the convention overly spectacular - but then again, in my current hotel I am severely limited to the options for viewing/listening [meaning I have CNN or Fox and both are more intent on their own words than the actual friggin' convention!] and my internet connection sucks where streaming is not an option.

Of all weeks to be in the worst Hilton facility I have ever stayed in. I am none too thrilled right now.

I found him somewhat entertaining, but also off-putting. Too many of his witticisms sounded strained or flat.

Deval Patrick was the one who impressed me most with his speaking ability last night, outside of Clinton.

He was so well received, because he spoke the truth, bluntly. This is what the democrats need to say. Obama needs to dumb down his speeches to appeal to the big dumb segments of our country.

Really, Steve? I just thought he was okay. The speech contained some good lines or jokes. It painted a VERY rosy picture of renewable fuel, including the line about "petro-dictators" never owning American sunshine and wind. Catchy line, but the truth is, industry in renewable energy is not yet at a point where wind and sun can replace the foreign oil we consume. Let's move in that direction by all means, let us see how much we can do with renewable energy; but we're not yet ready to claim that the overthrow of middle-east oil is at hand.

I do hope the Obama campaign is smart enough to get Schweitzer out on the surrogate circuit full-time over the next fewv months, He'll do great in the blue-collar, rust belt swing states.

Hate to say it, but it looks like Schweitzer is what the Obama campaign was looking for in Biden.

He reminded me of a happy warrior. A real change from all the gloom and doom I have been encountering lately.

Maybe the misguided folks in Montana still think they can make a difference. They aren't worldly wise and jaded like all of us sophisticates. Maybe they still think they can actually do something and the highest calling isn't kibitzing,

Hokey? Really? Guy looks like a real person, and speaks like a real person, and is funny and engaging, and that's now considered hokey? Is this comment thread being hijacked by hipster artists from Brooklyn?
I loved him - bolo tie, round face and all. This guy should get more national exposure. I'll certainly be paying more attention to him.

Hate to say it, but it looks like Schweitzer is what the Obama campaign was looking for in Biden.

You can't answer questions about experience, especially foreign policy experience, by selecting a first term governor from a sparsely populated state. He would have been a nice balance to Kerry, but not Obama.

I love the guy, though. Makes me proud to have Montana roots.

Montana has two Democratic senators and a Democratic governor because the Democrats there didn't buy the coastal and big blue states' prescription for what a Democrat looks and sounds like.

Schweitzer cracks me up. He reminds me of Rodney Dangerfield the way he sways back and forth and slouches. "I tell ya... you don't need a two dollar calculator to figure that out."

Minor point, VMR, but I use the name Prup for various reasons, but mostly to distinguish myself from the 2 Jim Bentons who ARE artists -- which I most definitely ain't. And I've been commenting at TCBR for about 2 years now.

"Clean and green and American made!"

I think that one's gonna make a good sound bite too. Hokey, yes, but in a good way I think.

Schwitzer got the crowd going, which prolly was what he was supposed to do.

ibc on August 27, 2008 at 9:15 AM:

I took the implication to be that the convention organizers had some say in which "featured" speakers would be televised.

Nah. MSNBC got about four words into Leach's speech and cut away to the talking heads. Apparently the networks didn't think it was noteworthy.

In response to the posts about coverage and suffering through commentators' yapping, why not just watch the feed from the DNC Web site? There's no idiotic commentary, no crawls across the bottom of the screen, no commercials, no problems. Best of all, no one tells you what you're supposed to think of the speech you just watched. I worried that convention season would be one of the few times I'd regret not having a TV. I found the online feed and my worries were relieved. Just sayin'. Also, Steve, you got the quote from Schweitzer wrong. The substance is right, but in order to put quotation marks around a phrase, it's got to be accurate. Not kind of accurate, you know? I don't mean to call you out, but little slips like that lead to real misunderstandings. Still, I love your work. Keep it up.

Montana held it's primary back in June on the last day of the primary season and Schweitzer was being interviewed all over the teevee then during the enhanced coverage while we were all waiting for Hillary to give that "concession" speech. I'm sort of surprised that you're not remembering, because he made an impression then, also.

Hee, I think VMR's comment about hipster artists was quite general and not directed at any one person. I highly doubt he or she was googling you, Prup.

Schweitzer: What a HOOT!!!

I loved his speech. He's just a big schlub of a guy, and he was just so there. It was fun to watch.

I'd been crossing my fingers Schweitzer would get the VP nod and this speech reminded me why. It's not just that he's great personally, it's that the national press would have a collective orgasm when they found out he speaks Arabic and brings his dog to work every day in the governor's office. Yeah, maybe it would overshadow Obama, but there would be weeks of great press as people discovered Schweitzer's story.

Biden was safe, but Schweitzer would have really nailed the change we can believe in theme.

How about T Boone Pickens? His energy plan is simple: wind to electricity....oh and then convert a lot of cars to run on natural gas and then use our own supplies of natural gas instead of "foreign oil".

In true Republican style he says the time for talk has ended it is time to act! Apparently he has decided, no need to think.

And his latest ad says "Drill, drill, drill". The guy has it all.

Hokey? Hardly! This country is not comprised of Onion-reading, South Park-watching posers. Schweitzer's style goes over well with huge swaths of the population. I feel better about the future just knowing that the Democratic party has him up its sleeve. I agree that he should've been the VP pick, but I understand that he still has work to do in turning Montana blue. Maybe in four years, Biden can retire and clear the way for Schweitzer to be the new VP. Either way . . . I'm reserving a spot on my instrument cases for a bumper sticker in the distant future that says "Schweitzer 2016!"

Attack! Attack! Attack!
Don't let up. Don't demure. Don't hesitate.
Rub people's noses in 8 years of Bush-poop.
And the promise of 4 more to come...

Do it with a smile and a folksy style.
The good Governor did it well.

Thank you!

Tonight is round three.
Don't let up Dems. Keep throwing punches...

Schweitzer is pro-coal, whether it's that much cleaner or not.

He's also VERY pro F-T process coal gasification, which has huge environmental problems, and if done onsite in Montana, which he wants, would guzzle all the Powder River water that the Wyoming coalbed natural gas drilling he complains about taints.

He is NOT all that.

(Note to people: Any time Markos gets on the Big Orange Soapbox to tout a candidate, actually start getting skeptical about that candidate first.)

I enjoyed his down homeish speech adding a little juice to the event, and although I took note of his "clean coal" refrences, currently an oxymoron, I'll cut him some slack. Clean coal through carbon sequestration is still a long way off, and I think other green energy sources will actually be at the forefront of getting us less reliant on oil.

Hate to say it, but it looks like Schweitzer is what the Obama campaign was looking for in Biden. -ogmb

Maybe you should reserve judgment until after Biden speaks tonight.

Schweitzer is pro-coal, whether it's that much cleaner or not. He's also VERY pro F-T process coal gasification, which has huge environmental problems, and if done onsite in Montana, which he wants, would guzzle all the Powder River water that the Wyoming coalbed natural gas drilling he complains about taints.

You know I don't really give a hoot.
He could be blowing lies out his eco-ass for all I care. He attacked. He attacked. He attacked.
He equated Republicans as friends of petro-dictators. That's brilliant. That echos. That reverberates.

This election isn't about splitting hairs and flushing your vote down a green toilet that has a Nader-certified label on it. It is about the future of the planet. It is about a hot war with Iran and cold war with Russia. If we don't get Barack in the game is up. Four more years of wars to keep everyone's eyes off the melting ice caps???

No thanks.

Fuck the niceties. Fuck the splitting of overly-magnified gadfly hairs. Break some republican face even if you have to lie to do it.

Win this election.
Or the next one doesn't matter...

He could have left out the crucifix reference -- why say something like that? To appeal to evangelicals? Wouldn't work -- according to them Catholics are going straight to hell.

I thought it was a good speech, but I'm glad he's not the VP choice -- not deep enough. He can keep on talking though; I think he'd be a good campaigner for the ticket.

This election isn't about splitting hairs and flushing your vote down a green toilet that has a Nader-certified label on it.

Wrong. It's about my pathological need for attention, my misplaced arrogance and my insistence on pretending I'm a bold iconoclast instead of a cliched contrarian.

This "big shlub" is in fact a scientist (soil science, irrigation) who knows as much about environmental and energy issues as any politician in office today. He may be too folksy for some of you, but he has the best combination of smarts and average-guyness in the Democratic Party.

Gosh, that guy was good. He really brought the place to life. Ditto on what Josh said.

I was pretty underwhelmed by Schweitzer. I kept waiting for him to say, "And that's not all!! Order right now, and we'll double the offer!"

Too much verbal gladhanding, too much poking and pointing, too much obvious working of the crowd, right down to critiquing whether their Pavlovian responses were loud enough.

Also, not that this is his fault, but he reminds me a little of Tim Russert, whom, sorry, I couldn't stand.

Steve quoted his best line, about McCain's backyards; now I feel as if I could've just read that and skipped the video.

I heard it on the radio (pacifica rather than npr so I get to hear the speeches rather than their stupid commentators) and his speech was the one I was least engaged with so far of the five or six I have listened to.

Ask Norwegians about taxes- they pay some of the highest rates in the world, yet have one of the highest standards of living and seem to be very happy. Maybe because what they get back s equal to what they give. Education: check, Healthcare: check: 4 weeks of paid vacation a year:check.

Here's a question: What is Schweitzer's future? He'll presumably get re-elected this year, but then he's term-limited out in '12 and in a state that already has two Democratic senators. I've heard him talked about as a potential presidential candidate, but that presumably wouldn't be until '16. If all he's done between now and then is finish out his term and maybe serve in an Obama cabinet as something like Energy Secretary, does that really make him a plausible candidate?