Schweitzer Speech Energizes the Convention

Mark Warner was tonight’s keynote speaker, but it was the raucous Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer who worked the crowd into a frenzy, delivering a kinetic speech about–of all things–energy policy.

It’s hard to imagine anybody getting quite that fired up about energy policy in 2004.


Schweitzer’s remarks (a prepared transcript of which is available on our site, conveniently) invoked John Kennedy’s goal to put Americans on the moon. Energy is the challenge of the 21st century.

“We face a great new challenge, a world energy crisis that threatens our economy, our security, our climate and our way of life,” Schweitzer began. The sort of line any politician might utter. But then Schweitzer took it personal, saying McCain’s support for expanded drilling was an unrealistic solution even “if you drilled in all of Senator McCain’s back yards, even the ones he doesn’t know he has.”

Forbes