Tag: brian schweitzer

A moderate Montana Republican who says her bid for state lawmaker last year was torpedoed by the illegal campaign tactics of an anti-green, pro-drilling political group registered in Colorado has seen her ranch on the Yellowstone River near Laurel inundated with ExxonMobil oil.

Dozens of protesters occupied the office of Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer on Tuesday, demanding that he oppose the federal government’s approval of the Keystone XL pipeline that would bring tar sands oil from Alberta, Canada to the Gulf Coast of Texas

In Montana, medical marijuana advocates say the passage of legislation which would all but outlaw medical marijuana in the state is merely the beginning of the battle.

Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer last week vetoed legislation that would have overturned the state's medical marijuana law. He said he thought the law needed some work but that he could not let the Legislature toss out a law approved by 62 percent of Montana voters.

In 2004, 64 percent of Montanans voted to legalize medical marijuana. Tuesday, the State Legislature voted to overrule the voters, passing a bill to treat medical users of marijuana the same as recreational users are treated--as criminals.

President Obama's popularity numbers have soared and dipped but they haven't helped him sell his message and Americans continue to reel from the nation's economic woes. One of the strategies political leaders adopt to improve their standing and stir up wind for their sails is to hitch themselves to a rising populist star. Obama is now certainly casting his eyes across the political landscape but many of today’s best-known Democratic Party populists come with baggage. Who are the top five likely choices Obama will seek to promote in the coming months?