Even the folks at REASON Magazine are getting aboard the Brian Schweitzer bandwagon

Well, one 'folk' is, Matt Welch, the associate editor of REASON. Tell me, is this a blessing or a curse?

November 2, 2005
latimes.com
Democrats need a breath of mountain-fresh air
By Matt Welch

FOR MAYBE the first time since the Gingrich revolution rocked their world in 1994, Democrats smell electoral blood in the water.

The conservative crackup over Harriet E. Miers, followed by the indictment of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby — both directly on the heels of the bungled federal response to Hurricane Katrina — have unleashed a long-suppressed crisis of conscience and faith within the Republican church.

After more than a decade of controlling the House of Representatives, and after five years of a White House spending binge that would make even Lyndon Johnson blush, Republicans are coming to the awkward realization that they have become the party of Big Government as we know it.

Instead of balancing budgets, eliminating government agencies and paring back entitlements, Republicans have run up the largest debt in history, birthed the biggest new federal bureaucracy in 50 years and created the most expensive entitlement since Medicare. Instead of "restoring dignity to the White House," as they promised, Republican leaders are being charged with criminal corruption and obstruction of justice. President Bush's popularity is getting lower by the week, and a housing bubble is looming precariously over an already fragile economy...

...If voters are fed up with irresponsible Big Government cronyism, why not offer a responsible alternative that keeps government out of people's lives except when necessary? After all, libertarian-leaning Republicans and independents are in play like they haven't been since at least 1996, and there's no saying they can't be won over by the Democrats...

...Montana's Democratic governor, Brian Schweitzer, a gun-toting farmer, has won massive popularity in a deeply red state with his pragmatic environmentalism and emphasis on energy production...

For the complete article, go here.