The Montana governor who made a surprising splash at the Democratic National Convention is the keynote speaker at Senator Tom Harkin’s annual “Steak Fry” fundraiser.
“I just thought Brian Schweitzer just gave a great speech at the convention. I told him so afterwards,” Harkin says. “He’s been a friend of mine for a number of years. I helped him when he first ran for senator out in Montana and I can tell you he’s going to be a force to be reckoned not only within the Democratic Party, but I predict nationally.”
This coming weekend, on Sunday, September 14, Harkin will hold his 31st annual “Steak Fry” in Indianola. All of the Democratic presidential candidates spoke at last year’s “Steak Fry.”
“Last year’s ‘Steak Fry’ was the biggest ever. The second-biggest was when President Clinton came in 1996. We had just about 12,000 then. Last year we topped 14,000 to 15,000,” Harkin says. “So, no, it won’t be as big as last year. We hope to get around 3000 people there, something like that.”
Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer spoke on the second night of the Democratic National Convention in Denver. Wearing cowboy boots and a bolo tie, Schweitzer delivered a feisty speech and as the audience responded to his remarks, Schweitzer urged party elders to “get off (their) duffs” and applaud with the rest of the crowd.