Brian Schweitzer enlivens the Al Franken radio show

Courtney Lowery, maven of the New West web site, provides a nice look at Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer's appearance on the Al Franken show

Franken on Montana Going Blue, Burns & the Correct Pronunciation of "Creek"
By Courtney Lowery, 1-13-06

Radio talk show host and author Al Franken said Friday, "Montana is a great story."

During the live broadcast of his show from the Missoula Childrens' Theatre with Missoula's KNS 105.9, he told his listeners and a crowded auditorium, "What we have here is a red state turning blue."

And that shift, he said, is very much because of his first guest on the show, Gov. Brian Schweitzer, who Franken introduced as "an inspiration to Democrats all across the country."

With national eyes on Schweitzer and his policies, Franken said Montana is poised to teach national politics a thing or two.

The Governor was most definitely was on his game Friday, effectively stealing the show -- hitting on alternative energy, wild lands, small businesses and health insurance -- all the while keeping up with Franken's witty banter. (Which if you've ever listened to the show, Franken can be a hard one keep with on the wit scale.)

The two traded barbs here and there, spending a fair amount of time on "Montana-isms" like how to pronounce "creek" (Franken said a how Montanans pronounce it, the word means something you get in your neck. "In America, it's a creek," he said) and Schweitzer's plans for Montana to lead the nation in alternative energy like wind power and his signature coal gassification proposal.

The article ends with blogger David Sirota, author of the upcoming book Hostile Takeover, due in bookstores March/April 2006, saying:

"When you speak from the heart and you show you're willing to stand up for ordinary people … that's a way to really communicate with people," he said. "Governor Schweitzer and others have shown that is really the way to build a different kind of politics that isn't just left or right, but really, truly populist," he said

.To read the entire article, go here..