5 questions for journalist and author David Sirota

Chris Barge, Rocky Mountain News

Monday, June 11, 2007

Al Franken calls him "My Sirota - the sexy, sexy wonk."

The late columnist Molly Ivins said he "is a new-generation populist who instinctively understands that the only real questions are 'Who's getting screwed?' and 'Who's doing the screwing?' "

David Sirota, the 31- year-old political journalist, activist, columnist and author of The New York Times bestselling book Hostile Takeover, will move to Denver from Helena, Mont., this month.

Best known for his obsessive focus on working- class economic issues, he has worked on numerous political campaigns and writes about politics for magazines, newspapers and blogs. He pontificates regularly on Jay Marvin's Air America radio show on 760-AM.

The Rocky Mountain News asked Sirota why he's moving, how he thinks Colorado's political landscape is changing, and why he owns a "golden doodle" designer dog.

Aren't you moving to Denver because you want a piece of the action at the 2008 Democratic National Convention?

"No. Not at all. We wanted to live closer to family. My brother works at Denver (Health Medical Center) and my wife wanted to go into social work and so she applied to the University of Denver. So the decision doesn't have to do with any given campaign or convention. But I will say, we really did want to stay in the West, for all sorts of reasons, among them being the politics going on out here."

The last five years have seen both Montana and Colorado swing politically from red to blue. You credit a new brand of populist politics for this shift. Who are these "populist Democrats" that you are so fond of?

"A populist Democrat is a Democrat who is unafraid to challenge special interests and entrenched power - particularly big money. The Wall Street wing of the Democratic Party sort of believes that you can solve the nation's problems by appeasing special interests and big money interests, and that there's this so-called 'third way.' The way I see it, most of the problems facing this country are not that new, and they're binary - they're either/or - there is no third way.

What do you make of Colorado Democrats?

"I think there's a lot of potential, but I can tell at least some of them seem to be a little bit torn about how aggressive to be on a Democratic agenda. I think in order for Democrats in a region like this to win, they can't try to pretend to be Republicans."

What opportunity does Denver's 2008 Democratic National Convention present to Western Democrats?

"It will be interesting to see how the national party reacts or behaves at the convention knowing it's going to be in a heartland area like Denver and the Intermountain West. I'm hopeful this is a point in time where the party is going to turn a corner and better embrace its more populist wing, especially on economics."

Your dog Monty is a cross-breed between a poodle and a golden retriever. How do you expect Western voters to take you seriously?

"He doesn't shed. I plead hypo-allergenic. Remember, we got him in Montana, so he wasn't some designer import!"