Opinion: Ticket Replay: Montana Gov. Schweitzer declined Obama Cabinet offer that never came

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During the next two weeks or so, The Ticket is republishing some of our favorite items from the 4,000 we’ve written since June, 2007. This one originally appeared in this space on Dec. 8, 2008:

Like most everybody else, you’ve probably not been wondering which Cabinet post Brian Schweitzer is gonna get in the evolving Barack Obama administration.

Back in September, Schweitzer, who is the Democratic governor of Montana, announced he wouldn’t accept a Cabinet post in a Democratic administration in Washington.

That seemed slightly strange.

Because no one thought he had been asked to join a new Democratic president, the election to pick the president not being scheduled until Nov. 4.

But, hey, that’s Brian, he of the rotund body and bolo tie, who got the crowd so riled up with his partisan quips at the Democratic National Convention last August in Denver.

Played so well back home that Big Sky Country went for Republican Sen. John McCain and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, 50-47.

Now that we’re a month past that Nov. 4 election and the Democrat who won the White House still hasn’t called on Schweitzer to join his administration, the Billings Gazette reports Schweitzer has reaffirmed he won’t accept the Cabinet post he still hasn’t been offered.

‘I like being outside too much to be Interior secretary,’ Schweitzer said. Schweitzer, by the way, has also not been offered the Cabinet post at Defense, State, the Justice and Commerce Departments and Homeland Security. And White House chief of staff seems out of the question as well.

An unscientific, bipartisan sampling of Montanans reached by telephone confirms that they too have no intention of accepting any Obama Cabinet post that isn’t offered.

But unlike the governor, they declined to make announcements to that effect. We’ll keep you posted though, if B.S. or B.O. changes their minds.

(UPDATE: So you can fully enjoy the holiday free of uncertainty, the call to Gov. Schweitzer never did come from the president-elect. So the governor is still not in the new Cabinet and won’t have to decline it anymore.)

-- Andrew Malcolm

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