Charles Pierce weighs in on a potential Brian Schweitzer candidacy
"Steve M ( http://www.nomoremister.blogspot.com/2014/01/yeah-because-extreme-contrarianism.html ) doesn't think much of Brian Schweitzer's apparent plan to run for president to the left of the incumbent and Hillary Clinton, but to the right of most of the party, simultaneously. I am an unabashed fan of the big lug; I especially liked the way he stood up against John Roberts and Citizens United and in favor of the campaign-finance laws that Montana had crafted in response to the last time we had Gilded Age plutocracy and a pet Supreme Court, And I can't think of anything I want to watch less than a 13-month exercise in The Inevitability of Hillary. But I think Steve's points are well-taken, and I think Schweitzer's positions are even less attractive to Democrats than Steve makes them out to be.
Schweitzer wants a single-payer health-care system. Hell, so do I. I also would like to be High King Of Ireland. Neither is going to happen in my lifetime. However, Schweitzer also wants the Keystone XL pipeline, and that very probably is going to happen some time in the next year. So, we have support for something the Democratic base loves but that has no practical chance of happening, and also support for something the base hates that might happen just as the campaign is gearing up. Schweitzer is good on the NSA, but is not now in position to do anything about it. But he's also bad on guns, and that's the current status quo that the base hates. All of the issues with which Schweitzer appeals to the Democratic base involve policy proposals that are at best the rosy dreams of progressive bell-ringers. All the issues with which Schweitzer will anger the base are either already in place, or very likely to be that way soon. I would not like to craft a stump speech in which my candidate has to promise to one day, on the great gettin' up morning, bring us a single-payer health-care system and, at the same time, defend a death-funnel already under construction in opposition to which ranchers and Nebraska grannies are being hauled off to the pokey. Schweitzer is a likable, fascinating guy. But, for the moment at least, he's the guy who rails against the NSA, about which he can do nothing, but not against the NRA, against which he could. That's not a good mix."
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Edit : apology to muriel volestrangler. I didn't realize you had posted the same piece - I did a lousy job at checking for duplicates.
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