Campaign trail leads to Helena

For Gov.-elect Brian Schweitzer, 2004 was a whirl of a ride that reached a peak with victory on Nov. 2.

The Democratic candidate based a busy year of campaign operations from his ranch outside Whitefish, but he recalls that most of the year was spent traveling across the state.

There were speeches in front of civic organizations, visits to newspapers and radio stations, there were parades and county fairs and debates and lots of handshaking from one stop to the next.

"It all went pretty fast," he said. "'On the road' would be the best description of my past year. I was in all 56 counties so there was no moss growing under my boots."

It was a rewarding experience, he said, that allowed him to meet hundreds of Montanans, many of whom shared ideas on ways to improve state government and Montana's economy.

"It was just great to meet a good part of the folks who decided the election. I think I shook hands with more than 100,000 people in the course of the campaign," he said.

While Republicans contend that Schweitzer did make promises during his campaign, Schweitzer contends that he made only one outright promise.

"I was up in Scobey in March and I bought some raffle tickets for an antique tractor," he said. "They called me in August and told me I won."

Schweitzer said he promised to leave the 1947 International tractor in Scobey and return to ride it in the town's Pioneer Days parade in June.

"In this entire campaign everybody's trying to get you to promise to do this and do that. I didn't promise anybody to do anything," Schweitzer said. "But in a weak moment, I agreed to promise to come back and ride in the parade on June 22."

There were rough spots in the campaign.

Schweitzer found himself deflecting a Republican attack aimed at his purchase of two vehicles from an Idaho car dealership. The controversy prompted articles and letters to the editor in newspapers for weeks, with critics charging that Schweitzer was lying in his claims that he had shopped in Montana.

In the end, Schweitzer demonstrated that he had indeed shopped locally before making his purchases in Idaho. The issue faded, with an unclear picture of whether it had hurt Schweitzer or if it had backfired on his critics.

Schweitzer said the most difficult period of the campaign, however, came in October when he was campaigning in Townsend. The candidate was struck with abdominal pains so severe that he was driven immediately to Helena, where he had surgery to remove an inflamed gall bladder.

"That wasn't very much fun," Schweitzer said, adding that he was derailed from the campaign trail for several days to recover from the surgery.

Throughout the year, the Schweitzer campaign was fueled by a series of press conferences held at demonstrative locations: a movie theater where he spelled out plans to reinvigorate film productions in Montana; a private detective's office to rebut an investigation into his background; and mostly at his ranch to discuss agricultural matters.

Asked to put his finger on the high point of the year, Schweitzer doesn't hesitate with an answer.

"At 11 p.m., when the Associated Press called me on election night" to tell him he had won the race, Schweitzer said. "That was the culmination. During the 22 months leading up to it, I had a plan for every week and month along the way, but you just couldn't think about the last day. You had to think about each week and each month."

Schweitzer's work, however, was just getting under way.

As governor-elect, Schweitzer launched a preplanned rapid-fire transition effort that mostly involved the selection of a new administration to head the state's bureaucracy.

"It's been pretty doggone busy since the campaign," Schweitzer said. "We've got a lot of work to do, and I'm up to the task."

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com