When Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer takes the podium in Denver tonight, he will be a potent symbol of one of the Democrats' dearest hopes.
While the Mountain West has been deeply red for decades, especially at the presidential level, Democrats such as Schweitzer, above, have begun fracturing that GOP hegemony.
When he was elected governor in 2004 -- Montana's first Democrat in that office since 1988 -- Schweitzer was immediately inserted into the party's rising star category. His election, along with Sen. Jon Tester's two years later, was offered as proof that the party could win in the demographically shifting West.
A rancher and soil scientist, Schweitzer has worked on irrigation projects all over the world and has years under his belt working for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He's a gruff politician who wears cowboy boots and brings his dog to his Capitol office.
Even as he's running for reelection this fall, Schweitzer's name was intermittently mentioned as a possible vice presidential pick for Barack Obama.
When his name emerged in June on what he called "a very long list," he dismissed the speculation as "ridiculous" being pushed by "nut jobs" in the blogosphere.
BOB VON STERNBERG
