Gov. Brian Schweitzer (D-MT)

You may have noticed that I had been posting less frequently to this blog over the last 6 weeks or so...it is because I took a leave of absence from my job to go out to Montana to work for Brian Schweitzer, who on Tuesday was elected governor. The first picture here is Schweitzer (left) and his runningmate State Sen. John Bohlinger (right) addressing the crowd on election night...below it is an earlier picture of me about to shoot clay pigeons on Schweitzer's ranch during a lunch break.

In a state that gave about 60% of its vote to Bush, Schweitzer won a solid victory, most other statewide offices went Democratic, as did the State Senate and maybe the State House. It was quite a showing of how Democrats can compete - and win - in areas the national media often too-quickly write off.

Read more about Schweitzer's race on his website. He will be an up-and-coming force in the years ahead.