It looks like Former Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer is testing the waters to run against Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Democratic primary as the standard bearer of what some might call the Elizabeth Warren Wing of the Democratic Party. He is concerned that Hillary "may shift hard right" and that President Obama "in many cases has been a corporatist."
In an interview with the Weekly Standard published in the Dec. 23 issue, Schweitzer speculated Clinton might become a "hard right" politician.
"The question that we have is, will it be the Hillary that leads the progressives? Or is it the Hillary that says, 'I'm already going to win the Democratic nomination, and so I can shift hard right on Day 1,'" Schweitzer said. "We can't afford any more hard right. We had eight years of George Bush. Now we've had five years of Obama, [who], I would argue, in many cases has been a corporatist."
TPM
Later in the article he equivocates on running:
"I didn’t say I wouldn’t, but I didn’t say I was. But it’s something I’m interested in."
He's got the talk down. He worries about Hillary Clinton "moving hard right" if elected, calling President Obama's polices (and by implication President Obama) "corporatist." This reads like many comments one sees on Daily Kos.
But is he really that left? Is he comparable to Bernie Sanders, Sherrod Brown, Jeff Merkely, or Elizabeth Warren?
My impression of Schweitzer is that he was good for Montana, would have been a good senator from a purple, almost red state, but he was not all that left wing overall. But that is just an impression. The only thing that sticks in my mind was his support for coal. Of course, Montana has a lot of it. I recall many good environmentalists here going ballistic when Kos pushed a Schweitzer candidacy for the open seat now that Baucus is retiring.
So what do you think? Is Schweitzer "the one"? Or is Hillary overall as left as Schweitzer, with both really being center-left?
Yes, it's early, too early, but this is a Christmas present to electoral junkies.