Brian Schweitzer has been hitting up the invisible primary circuit lately in Iowa - and good for him. He's been sounding all the right notes to woo liberals' hearts. I certainly like him a lot. Anyway, here's an interview he did while in Iowa.
Part 1 is here (parts 3 and 4 are interviews with someone else, but part 5 is more Schweitzer): http://whotv.com/...
It appears that Schweitzer is positioning himself as the midwest populist he's always been. One thing that sticks out in my mind is that he wants to use Medicare as a public option, thus circumventing one of the best criticisms of the PPACA, which is that it is a forced corporatist giveaway to insurance companies.
Another is that he seems to support expanding background checks. This is a good move for him. He's definitely got the gun rights bona fides to be seen as legitimate in his desire for some gun control, without being vulnerable to criticisms that he's anti-second amendment. Since the second amendment is, sadly, enshrined in our Constitution and our judicial system, I think this is the best we can hope for. This also keeps him, and us, competitive in gun-loving portions of the country.
And finally, he took some good shots at Hillary in a roundabout way, and also positioned himself as the anti-war candidate by criticizing our involvement in Afghanistan. By 2016, Americans will be so sick of foreign wars that his message could severely undercut Hillary's prior positions. People won't forget her Iraq War vote.
Now, I'd like to go on record that I'm not anti-Hillary. I think she's a fine candidate and a fine person. But she has vulnerabilities, and some of her policies are ones that I cannot support. I feel that Schweitzer could be a better candidate. I'm not sure who I'll vote for in the primary, but right now I'm leaning towards Gov Schweitzer.