Democratic convention hears a rural voice

A surprise hit last night at the Democratic National Convention was Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer. "A cattle rancher who strode into office wearing cowboy boots," writes Paul Wallsten of the Los Angles Times, "Schweitzer has succeeded by connecting with the values of Western voters. Yet he also embraces key Democratic policies, supporting abortion rights, energy conservation and environmental regulation. ... He raised the roof at the Pepsi Center by exhorting thousands of party activists to 'get off your hind end' and cheer for the demise of GOP rule." (Photo from The Associated Press)

Schweitzer's speech focused on energy policy. "It was purely partisan red meat on a pocketbook issue -- exactly what some Democratic strategists have said was lacking from the convention when the sagging economy is at the forefront of voters' minds," Wallsten writes. "His appearance in a coveted time slot during network television coverage easily overshadowed a staid keynote address delivered earlier by former Virginia Gov. Mark R. Warner, a Senate candidate who was expected to play a starring role here.And it couldn't have come at a better time for the Democrats -- just when Barack Obama needs to start connecting with the kind of white, rural and working-class voters that might be inclined to listen to Schweitzer." (Read more)

Schweitzer became governor in 2004 while George W. Bush was carrying the state by 20 percentage points. Mark Sundeen of The New York Times writes, "Schweitzer’s 'Montana miracle,' in which Democrats took back the governor’s seat after 16 years and ended 12 years of Republican majorities in both state chambers, has been cited as evidence that the Republican bastions in the Western states are losing ground to a new, Democratic brand of libertarian-tinged prairie populism." (Read more)

Schweitzer said after the speech that it was the first he had ever given from a prepared text; he added much material to the text. For Mike Dennison's story from the Billings Gazette, with Schweitzer's prepared remarks, click here. UPDATE, Aug. 29: One Democrat called Schweitzer "our side's Huckabee," according to the Evans-Novak Political Report's convention wrapup.