Boy, he sure is a good guy. I listened to a couple of his speeches on YouTube and he's got that easy-going style, but you can tell he's just smart as hell. Love it.

I like your thoughts here and hope you are right! This Gov has got his shit together and he would bring some much to the table!

I think the schedule also suggests that it is not Clinton. If he was going to pick her, I think he would be planning on going to some big Clinton states like OH, PA, and maybe even NH. Instead, he is going nowhere near the east coast.

That said I'd be tickled pink with Schweitz as well!

Interesting response here so far.

When I first posted the reasons I believed Warner was the right choice, there was almost unanimous praise for the possibility. Folks felt it.

I hope the same enthusiasm exhibited here so far continues with Schweitzer.

With Bayh, with Biden, with Kaine, with Sebelius, there was no consensus, some were pleased, others highly annoyed, and many some nonplused. Schweitzer can be worked into the Obama narrative in a way those characters could never be.

There is no other reason to explain why Obama would end up in Billings, Montana, the day his VP is going to speak at the convention. The SMS must be a matter of minutes away now that TPM has broke the news!

And btw how can McCain trump this? Obama and his partner riding through American Big Country -- and all this time McCain thought it was his own back yard.

Apologies for those who read this on artappraiser's thread:
The one thing I can't figure out about all of this is why Obama has not milked the news cycle more with his announcement. If we all know he will be with the running mate on Sat, why wait until Friday, as it now seems, to announce? It just does not make sense.

Thus, one quick question. Obama was in VA for a 4:00 event today. What is he doing tonight? Could he be going for a Thursday evening news and all day Friday news cycle? Note: Clinton is in FL, not a bad state to announce in, and a quick plane ride down the coast.

I'm thinking it will be announced before 10:00 pm tonight.

I think this has less to do with milking the news cycle than the damage the Hilliary mob could do given the time.

I really hope it can be someone like Schweitzer. I really really do.

Absolutely, positively, would I love Schweitzer. Everyone who knows me knows I've been saying such for a long while now.

I don't know that it's him, however. And I refuse to make a prediction until I hear directly from the Obama Campaign. They've thrown too many wrenches into the mix for me to be sure of anything.

Still, I love the idea.

Obama/Schweitzer '08

Still waiting for the text.......

i wouldn't mind if this was the case. what would it mean for state politics in montana? i can't say i know much about that and how much that would matter. i'm hoping the veep choice won't hesitate to rip mccain a new one, i don't know if that's something people see schweitzer doing.

Schweitzer!

Obama/Schweitzer? Try saying it out loud and see what you think.

The 538 analysis is pretty compelling. I hadn't even thought about Schweitzer but had the 'ah ha' reaction after reading it and this post.

Please, please, please, just not Biden or Bayh. Anyone or anything else.

David...you have supplied the 'hate-Clinton catnip' necessary to provide a refuge for all of those fleeing the obvious.

There's a great deal to like about Schweitzer. He's a very compelling figure. But let's face it: he's not ready for the presidency. Obama really can't make a choice that risky, and if the veep chatter means anything at all, it doesn't look like he's planning any big surprises.

But who knows?

To coin a phrase: "I have a dream ..."

Barack Obama will pick former Vice President (and once-elected President) Al Gore for more good reasons than I can even count. But I'll count up a few anyway, in no particular order of importance.

(1) The country has huge technical problems to solve and needs someone with hefty, universally acknowledged qualifications to lead the effort to solve them. No politician today except Al Gore fills that role so easily. President Obama will have more than his hands full just dealing with the domestic economy and a competely trashed foreign policy. Obama needs Al Gore to provide the experience in a critical area that the top guy himself doesn't have or have time to acquire.

(2) Al Gore needs no introduction or vetting and can hit the ground running from minute one after Barack Obama announces him as running mate.

(3) As a military veteran himself, Gore can easily counter Panama-John McBomb's one-and-only claim to anything: namely, "some noun, some verb and POW."

(4) The Clinton Partners in Pathos and their fanatical dead-ender trouble makers can't possibly bitch because Bubba Bill himself chose Al Gore for Vice President and served with him for eight years.

(5) Al Gore has already won more popular votes than any other Democratic Party presidential candidate in recent memory -- including Bill Clinton (although Ross Perot has to get his due for splitting the Republican ticket so badly in 1992 and 1996). No other pick already has the credibility to take over the presidency, if necessary, than Al Gore.

(6) The vice presidential pick gets to speak on night three of the Convention, which should nicely step all over Bubba Bill's attempts to never shut up about how his wife and him should really have won the nomination for co-president one more time. You-Know-Her still gets her night -- yes, another one -- in the spotlight to try and raise some cash for her indebted, losing campaign. One night for You-Know-Them, yes. Two nights, no.

(7) Someone with real political chops needs a big government portfolio behind him if America ever hopes to help do something about energy indepenence and global warming. Al Gore has probably already done as much to combat global warming as a private citizen can. He needs power and a bureaucracy behind him now if he wishes to do more than just educate on the subject.

(8) Al Gore, like Barack Obama spoke out forcefully in opposition to Deputy Dubya Bush's stud-hamster vendetta against the toothless Saddam Hussein in Iraq. The "experienced" Bloviatin' Joe Biden went along for the easy imperial ride, just like You-Know-Her and her even more "experienced" spouse. So did Senator Evan (who dat?) Bayh of ... what state did you say?

(9) Did I mention that Al Gore can still run for President again in 2016 practically as an incumbent (at a younger age than Panama McBomb now)? Did I mention that this will really piss off the Bawl and Pillory Horror Picture Show and bury forever their ludicrous plans for yet more of that psychodrama co-presidency shit?

(10) Panama-John McBomb cannot even come close to anything this dramatic or game-changing. In fact, game over.

.... and then I woke up to learn that Barack Obama had picked ... who???????????

Schweitzer is a NRA-endorsed pro-choice democrat with a visionary energy independence plan and a knack for memorable one-liners that travel well with low-information voters ("Gun control is you control your gun and I control mine"). A risky choice, but clearly one that would show that Obama does want to break with the old ways of Washington. Having seen some of his television appearances on youtube I think he would be a terrific campaigner and a great addition to the ticket. And in terms of the Obama narrative, he does make a lot more sense than any of the other candidates, except maybe for Tim Kaine.

Coyote above noted Montana only has 3 Electoral College votes.
True, but they are 3 Obama could use.

Moreover, a Schweitzer pick could put Obama over the top in Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada and New Mexico.

Remember this: Obama's was always about expanding the political map and Obama's trajectory to victory was always about Virginia or Colorado.

Since Obama could not persuade Mark Warner, and knows Tim Kaine can only be sure to deliver suburban Richmond, then a Western or Mountain approach was needed.

Governor Schweitzer can be effective in changing the electoral map in ways Biden cannot.

And it would nice to see McCain sweat in Texas...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_sf3A9bbpU

Oh man, I would love Brian Schweitzer in the VP debate... he would KILL!

Plus we'd have a Bolo Tie-ed VP. This pleases me to no end.

Although it would suck for Montana, since he's running for re-election... but... arrrrggghhh.

I have a funny feeling we're going to get stuck with Biden. As long as it's not Bayh.

I sure do hope it's Schweitzer rather than the usual media suspects (Biden et alii).

No national politician knows the oil issue specifically and the energy problem in general better than Schweitzer. Some polls have gasoline the number 2 issue just behind the economy. Obama's plan to grow the economy involves energy infrastructure.

Obama has foreign relations judgment sewed up: No war to start with, a goal to get out, importance of Afghanistan, summary attacks against key Al-Qaeda personnel, etc.

A good fit.