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Howard Fineman shines a light on Brian Schweitzer
Howard Fineman has been the sometimes recipient of well-deserved netroots venom, myself mea culpa. However, he is spot on in writing the following article even if he doesn't personally endorse Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer.
The next generation of Democratic Party presidential candidates will thankfully come from outside D.C. as our nation will be looking for contemporary ideas and solutions, uncontaminated political blood and new faces who connect when offering their respective narratives. The single D.C. exception I can think of is Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold, who rarely earns camera time as a Democratic spokesperson/elder and because he often goes against the D.C. grain. As for John Kerry, Joe Biden, Christopher Dodd, Joe Lieberman, Evan Bayh, even Hillary Clinton--they can forget it because they're all re-runs from the most detested club in this country--the U.S. Congress. Bayh supporters may argue this as will Clinton backers but just what can Bayh point to in order to sell himself as different from his colleagues and how can Clinton erase the memories of the torturous presidency of her husband?
Best of all, Fineman concludes his column with a salute to Schweitzer. Believe me, it's all happening in the Mountain West.
Outside the BeltwayTo read the entire article, go here.
To regain control in Washington, Democrats need to look for new ideas and new leaders from across Americaand from cyberspace.
Howard Fineman
Newsweek
June 7, 2006 - OK, so the Dems didn’t quite start their revolution in San Diego. Their candidate railed against the corruption of Washingtonlogically enough, since the race was to replace the disgraced Randy (Duke) Cunningham. The Republicans were forced to pour in $5 million and hundreds of staffers to defend a House seat in a famously conservative district. The Democrats can take heart from the fact that the race was close. But they also should learn a lesson, which is that talking about Washingtoneven if you’re attacking the immorality of the placeisn’t the only strategy, or even the main one.For Democrats hoping to claw their way back to national power, this is the strategic paradox: to regain control of the political Establishment, they must forget about it.
Democrats aren’t likely to find leaders and answers here in the capital, and can’t expect the traditional media to light the way. Instead, Democrats need to be a “states' rights” party in a new sense, shunning the sclerotic political machinery of the capital for the new ideas, programs and tactics sprouting in the statesand in the digital netroots of America.
Americans want optimism and ideas, and are tired of hearing about the capital...
...The combined bottom line is: the Democrats need to think outside the box...
...But perhaps the netroots’ favorite avatar in waiting is Gov. Brian Schweitzer of Montana. In their eyes he’s the rootin’-tootin’ real deal, a rancher turned politician who believes in government activism set free from traditional liberal thinking and interest-group methods. This week a protégé of Schweitzer’s, a rancher named Jon Tester, won the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate...
...So that’s the place to start from in this new political era: not Washington, but the middle of nowhere.
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