David Sirota
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| David Sirota | |
|---|---|
 David Sirota's author/column photo |
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| Born | November 2, 1975 New Haven, Connecticut |
| Occupation | Blogger, Journalist, Columnist, Author |
| Nationality | United States |
| Genres | Non-fiction |
| Subjects | Politics, economics |
David J. Sirota (born 1975) is an American political figure and commentator. He is a blogger and nationally-syndicated newspaper columnist, generally considered to hold progressive anti-establishment views. In 2008 Sirota was described in the New York Times as a populist rabble rouser.
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[edit] Early life and education
Sirota was born in New Haven, Connecticut but grew up in the Montgomery County suburbs outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After being educated at the William Penn Charter School, he went to Northwestern University, where he earned his bachelor's degree with honors in journalism and political science.
[edit] Political and media career
Sirota worked as spokesperson for the House Appropriations Committee. While a fellow at the Center for American Progress, he created its Progress Report.
Sirota's career in political campaigns began when he became a research director for Illinois State Senator Howard Carroll's unsuccessful run for U.S. Representative in Illinois's 9th congressional district in the 1998 election; Carroll lost in the Democratic primary to Hyatt heir J. B. Pritzker and Illinois State Representative Jan Schakowsky. Sirota then became a fundraiser for Joe Hoeffel in his first successful campaign for the House of Representatives in Pennsylvania's 13th congressional district.
Later he moved to Washington, D.C. and worked in the political department of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). His next job was as press aide and then spokesperson for Bernie Sanders, the democratic socialist/independent at-large U.S. Representative from Vermont.
After serving as a senior strategist for Brian Schweitzer's unsuccessful 2000 Senate campaign and successful 2004 gubernatorial campaign, Sirota lived from 2004 to 2007 in Helena, Montana with his wife. In May 2006, Random House's Crown Publishers released his book Hostile Takeover, which argues that corporate interests are driving U.S. economic policy. Although the book became a New York Times bestseller on July 9, 2006, entering at #23 on the nonfiction list, it quickly dropped off.[citation needed] The paperback edition came out a year later.
Since May 2005, Sirota has been a contributor to The Huffington Post while writing his own blog (which is published in parallel at WorkingForChange). He was a regular guest on The Al Franken Show and makes guest appearances on The Colbert Report, Countdown with Keith Olbermann, NOW, Lou Dobbs Tonight, CNBC, and NPR. He is a senior editor at In These Times, a regular columnist for The Nation, and a past contributor to The American Prospect. He has also been published in the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the Baltimore Sun, and the San Francisco Chronicle. Newsweek has profiled him favorably.
On August 31, 2006, Sirota announced via his blog and an email to supporters that he would begin working after Labor Day as a consultant to Ned Lamont's U.S. Senate campaign. After Lamont's loss in the November election to the incumbent he had defeated in the Democratic primary, Joe Lieberman, Sirota discussed his own future in a blog post called "Will Work For Food... or At Least Beer":
- "...I'd really like to continue writing/blogging, and will probably start working on another book proposal, but it can be a lonely, hapless existence, in which you are always scratching, clawing and fighting for opportunities even after you kill yourself to create a bestseller and take incessant criticism... So basically, if anyone out there has some suggestions for me for the next year, I'm all ears..."
Weeks later, Sirota announced that he had accepted another book deal with Crown Publishers.[1] This book, The Uprising, was released in June 2008.
In June 2007, Sirota made two announcements. First, he would be replacing the late progressive columnist Molly Ivins with a column to be syndicated nationally by Creators Syndicate.[2] Second, he would be moving to Denver, Colorado so his wife could attend the School of Social Work at the University of Denver.[3]
Sirota is also the founder and co-chair of the Progressive States Network (formerly the Progressive Legislative Action Network).
[edit] Political views
Sirota is a fierce critic of what he considers to be neoliberal policies, and has leveled frequent criticism at both the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations.
He has strongly criticized the Democratic Leadership Council and other Democrats, whom he claims have sold out to corporate interests, and has argued that the term "centrist" is a misnomer in that these politicians are out of touch with public opinion. Sirota's article "The Democrats' Da Vinci Code" argues that progressive politicians are more successful in so-called "red states" than the mainstream media have previously reported.[4]
He is an opponent of laissez faire free trade policies, a supporter of fair trade, and an advocate for workers' rights and organized labor. His May 2007 speech at the Montana AFL-CIO Convention in Butte articulated many of his views.[5]
Sirota supported Sherrod Brown over Paul Hackett for the 2006 Senate election in Ohio and harshly criticized Hackett's claims that he was "forced out" of the race by party elders as disingenuous. Sirota wrote:
- "My guess is he saw his poor fundraising numbers, saw that he was going to get crushed in the primary, wanted the race handed to him, didn't feel like doing the hard, unglamorous work that candidates have to do in the modern era to be competitive, and got out. Then, to save face, he created this ridiculous martyr story that he got 'forced out' - a concept, remember, that doesn't exist in this country. There are no people with bayonets preventing anyone from running or 'forcing' candidates out of the race. That's Third World stuff. In this country, when someone says they've been 'forced out' of a race, it really means they weren't ready for primetime, they knew it, and were desperate to save face."[6]
[edit] Work
- Hostile Takeover, 2006
- The Uprising, 2008
