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Polis and others make nontraditional a norm

By M.E. Sprengelmeyer, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published January 7, 2009 at 12:05 a.m.

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Troubled times call for outside-the-box thinking, and that's how new Rep. Jared Polis explains the entrepreneurial thinkers who have left the business world for Capitol Hill.

Polis, who made his fame and fortune in Internet-savvy businesses, was sworn into a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday, taking the 2nd District seat once held by Sen. Mark Udall.

Polis, 33, scored a surprising win in the Democratic primary, defeating veteran state legislator Joan Fitz-Gerald.

Within weeks, he's expected to be joined in the congressional delegation by Denver Public Schools Superintendent Michael Bennet, another business-minded leader appointed over a long list of veteran politicians to succeed Interior Secretary nominee Sen. Ken Salazar.

Polis and Bennet are different in many ways. But they're part of a trend in Congress - nontraditional people taking over the traditional power structure of Washington, D.C.

"People are generally frustrated with the sometime aimlessness of their politicians," Polis said Tuesday, standing in an office that breaks tradition with a bright red carpet and blinding yellow walls. "They want to see more focus, and more ties to the real world. And I think that's what we're seeing in this new breed of elected officials."

Just four years ago, the dean of Colorado's congressional delegation, Rep. Joel Hefley, R-Colorado Springs, was famous for being the last to have an official Web site and not knowing how to use e-mail. Now, Polis regularly contributes lengthy commentary to political blogs, and he said he sometimes surprises constituents with instant answers when they e-mail late at night.

"I grew up with the Internet, and my first company that I started was an Internet access company in the early '90s," Polis said, noting that for years he's handled hundreds of e-mails a day. "And being in Congress is no different."

Comments

  • January 7, 2009

    11:48 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    SlouchingTowardBoulder writes:

    I hope to hell that Polis bucks his party's leadership on the undemocratic union bill that will be pushed hard.