That same approach will be crucial to the rebirth of the Democratic Party, Sirota told an audience at the Missoula County Democrats' County Convention in City Hall.
For instance, Sirota said, Schweitzer was a maverick in emphasizing the common interests of environmentalists and hunters. Those interests overlap widely, covering everything from growth to outdoor recreation.
In his presidential campaign, John Kerry avoided talk of environmentalism because of its perception in Washington, D.C. - as an issue that appeals only to hard-core liberals and socially responsible suburbanites. In his campaign for governor, Schweitzer put "environment" right where Montanans do - the rights to hunt and fish, access to land, the ability to hike and recreate outdoors.
The Democrats who won in "red" states in last fall's elections were those who were unafraid of talking about values, just as much as Republicans were, Sirota said. Sirota, who writes for Nation magazine, appears on the "Al Franken Show" and writes a regular column for In These Times, believes that the values of middle-class Americans as espoused by Democrats can be just as powerful as Republicans' talk of "God, guns and gays."
Those winning Democrats, most notably in Montana and in Colorado, talked about issues of economic class. For instance, they can cast the Republican administration's trade policies in terms of what they truly mean at home, the selling out of American jobs. Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) and Rep. Bernie Sanders of Vermont - an Independent whom Sirota has also worked for - are very good at this.
Democratic Sen. Byron Dorgan of North Dakota works in a similar way when he talks about large corporate agriculture and the small American farmer.
"He's very, very focused on how corporate agriculture is using all its resources in Washington, D.C., to squeeze out small farmers," Sirota said.
A parallel issue lies where the interests of big business and small business diverge - "the Wal-Mart issue," Sirota said.
President Bush is usually at odds with the majority of Americans' opinions, Sirota said. On the Iraq war, the privatization of Social Security and tax cuts, Americans disagree. But he is perceived to be a guy who will stand up for what he believes in, Sirota said. Democrats can do that, too.
"The premise of all of this is that these issues allow us to transcend the values issues and talk about them on our terms," Sirota said.
Sirota is at work on a book for Random House on the middle-class economic squeeze. He works for the Center for American Progress, a progressive think tank in Washington, D.C. He moved to Helena three months ago and admits to being a newcomer. He's still fuzzy on which of the Dakotas share a border with Montana.
"Forgive me if I don't sound 'Montana' enough," he said. "I'm working on it."
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