For a man who says that running for President would “ruin his life,” Brian Schweitzer certainly looks to be heading in that direction. Dividing his time between rancorous stump speeches in Iowa and Sunday morning talk shows, the former governor of Montana is angling to position himself as the populist alternative to Hillary Clinton. Firing shots about her tendency to “shift hard right,” Schweitzer is trying to position himself as the progressive for 2016. After a widely-lauded speech to the Democratic Convention in 2008, Schweitzer is hoping to follow in the footsteps of an earlier convention standout who went on to win an unexpected primary against Clinton.

Despite the hype, the reality is that Schweitzer comes with a troublingly conservative record that ought to undercut populist credentials. The buzz about Schweitzer in 2016 has gone on for years, and with his recent speeches in Iowa with a pledge to visit all 99 counties there, he has finally begun to emerge as a candidate. In an interview with Slate’s David Weigel, he appears undeterred by his long-shot odds, “Ask President Ed Muskie how it worked out to be the front-runner. Ask President Howard Dean how it worked out.”

Americans tend to consume news about politics as battles, and there is a thirst for a story about a brewing primary in 2016, despite the election being years away. With Elizabeth Warren eschewing interest in 2016, there is space for someone to step forward as the alternative to Hillary. Schweitzer has filled that role with a compelling story about a Western Governor taking on the establishment candidate, who he accuses of selling out.

The problem is that the story he is selling about his own career is based on lore, not reality. While liberals may like the bolo ties and screeds about hating Washington, Schweitzer will have a difficult time selling his conservative record on guns and the environment to a primary audience.

Becoming famous as a “blue man in a red state,” Schweitzer compromised on core liberal commitments to gun control and allied himself with the NRA. In his 2008 run, Schweitzer was endorsed by the NRA with an “A” rating and a personal visit by Wayne LaPierre for a campaign rally. Schweitzer signed an array of NRA-backed bills into law, including a 2009 “stand your ground” bill that the NRA called a “victory.”