Wednesday evening Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer made his last “State of the State” address. He is in his second term and is term-limited from running for another term as governor.

I reviewed his speech this morning and read some of the media reports. I checked Twitter throughout the evening and this comment from one of the Governor’s fans caught my attention: “Brian Schweitzer is the best Governor in America. Hands down. No Contest.”

Governor Schweitzer does have his fans…and he has his enemies.

Back in 2008 I wrote the following commentary about Brian Schweitzer:

Schweitzer kind of reminds me of George C. Scott, who played Mordecai Jones in the 1967 movie, “The Flim-Flam Man.” The synopsis tells us that Mordecai was the master of back-stabbing, cork-screwing and dirty-dealing-dealing. I’m sure there are some folks in Helena who feel the same way about Schweitzer, especially those on the right.

Schweitzer was made to be a politician. We have the bolo tie, the dog at his side, and he has so much self-confidence that he usually takes over the room when he enters. I’ve had a smile on my face every time I have met the Governor, not because I was happy to meet him, but because it was funny to watch him work the room while selling his snake oil.

I remember seeing him hop off a flatbed trailer in Great Falls, Montana, back in 1998-99 after announcing he was running for U.S. Senate. At that time, I told some friends and colleagues that “this man is a joke” and that his greatest claim to fame was that his cousin was a Freeman and that he was busing seniors to Canada to get cheaper prescription drugs. Continue reading →