David Sirota is back in the attic the week after the blue tsunami, and he walks in mid-beef. Majority Democrats, a billionaire-funded group, is convening Buttigieg, Warnock, Khanna, Booker and dozens of other powerful elected officials in Denver this week to plan the party’s next chapter, and it has barred The Lever from covering it after The Lever exposed its donors. From there: why “moderate” has become Orwellian newspeak, why Third Way calling James Talarico a moderate means the left already won, what Talarico and Gina Hinojosa prove about economic populism in red states, and why data centers are the new fracking. Then the Don’t F*** It Up agenda: lower the Medicare age, pass single-subject bills, make the new senators vote, and stop treating messy as bad, plus the Lieberman, Bennet, and Rahm Emanuel history of how the public option died. Sirota’s rule for the next two years: if you don’t deliver, you should be afraid. Colorado: a clean sweep, supermajorities, seven of eight Advance Colorado measures dead, Boebert gone, and Amendment 87 passing with Polis, Salazar, and Weiser all against it. In Tea Time: Jen Bacon as the first Black woman Speaker, Javier Mabrey as majority leader, Melissa Mejía’s win and the push to repeal 132 through 135 at the Capitol.

UPDATE:

We recorded this episode Friday, November 6th. On November 7th, a credential was offered to Lever employees: https://x.com/rohanspatel/status/2119197501404143989?a=h07B3pjqMLnns5Ki5V0&s=20

The Lever: levernews.com

Deep’s Substack on Weiser and 87: https://leftintheattic.substack.com/p/climb-without-the-rope

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Chapters

00:00 The Billionaires Are Already Meeting

00:40 The Lever vs. Majority Democrats

05:40 “Objectivity Is Horse Shit”

11:10 “Moderate” Is Newspeak

13:40 If Talarico Is A Moderate, We Won

16:00 Red-State Populism

20:50 Data Centers Are The New Fracking

24:40 Don’t F*** It Up, Democrats

27:20 How The Public Option Died

31:40 Lower The Medicare Age To 50

34:00 Messy Is How Democracy Works

36:15 If You Don’t Deliver, Be Afraid

38:40 There Are No Good Billionaires

43:10 Boebert Is Gone

46:10 Colorado’s Clean Sweep

47:40 And 87 Still Passed

52:30 Act Like North Carolina Republicans

54:10 Why 85 Failed

57:10 Fan Questions From The Group Chat

01:00:10 Tea Time: Speaker Bacon, Majority Leader Mabrey

01:04:20 Mejía Wins At-Large

01:08:30 The Push To Repeal 132 Through 135

01:12:50 Wrap And Subscribe

Meet Your Hosts

Ana Mitchell, Ph.D., is a former CDC scientist who was swept up in federal cuts and is now reinventing herself as a civic coach and creator. After a decade reducing disparities in health and education, she’s building Civically Fit (see civicallyfit.org) to make civic engagement accessible, authentic, and sustainable. A proud Latina and Colorado native, Ana is focused on helping people build community and power through everyday civic action.

Deep Singh Badhesha is an attorney, political strategist, and the founder of Lamp Strategies, a public affairs firm, with more than a decade of experience shaping campaigns and policy in Colorado. A former public school math teacher, Colorado Supreme Court clerk, Colorado House Democrats staff, and Capitol lobbyist for Denver Public Schools, he now works across campaigns, ballot initiatives, and legislative fights, and turns up on TV and radio to argue about all of it. He's the son of Punjabi immigrants, a Colorado Springs kid, a new dad, and a longtime organizer who believes community, not saviors, will rebuild the Left. He also has way too many hot takes on everything from food and sports to politics.

Links:

Website: www.LeftInTheAttic.com

Instagram: @leftintheatticpod

TikTok: @leftintheattic

Email: LeftInTheAtticPod@gmail.com

Voicemail: (303) 416-2846

Days before the election, Ana and Deep welcome Logan Davis, investigative columnist at the Colorado Times Recorder and author of The Red Print, the award-winning map of Advance Colorado’s money, to explain who built the longest ballot in state history and why. Logan walks through how Advance emerged in 2020 to deliver for Phil Anschutz after the Colorado GOP made itself unelectable, how a Democratic legislature anointed Michael Fields by negotiating property tax cuts with him in 2023, and how $14 million moved in 2024 from family foundations and donor-advised funds through a dozen groups with the same officers and the same compliance person. Then the whole shop: Anschutz funds the groups that write the measures, the think tank that blesses them, and the newspapers that endorse them, and this month his companies told employees at the Broadmoor, Xanterra, and Anschutz Exploration to follow the Gazette’s voter guide. Also: why the Colorado Democratic Party is holding election night at an AEG venue, why eight of this year’s measures are built to win lawsuits later, and a twenty-minute argument between Deep and Logan over Amendment 85 that neither of them wins. Tea Time with Logan: predictions on every statewide race and all fourteen measures, Boebert, CD-8, Talarico, El-Sayed, and whether 134 and 135 pass. Last episode of the election cycle.

Who Is Advance Colorado? whoisadvancecolorado.org The Red Print, Colorado Times Recorder: https://coloradotimesrecorder.com/2025/08/the-redprint-how-advance-colorado-and-anonymous-donors-shape-the-political-landscape/72168/ Colorado Times Recorder: coloradotimesrecorder.com

Check our our new substack: leftintheattic.substack.com/

The LITA November 2026 Ballot Guide: leftintheattic.com/voterguide

Chapters00:00 A Nice Little Propaganda Machine

00:49 Halloween Weekend And The Party Bus

02:57 Meet Logan Davis

03:37 “I Found A Candidate’s Second Family”

07:05 The Political Workers Guild

10:17 Advance Colorado Fills The GOP Vacuum

15:59 The Property Tax Blackmail

25:29 Reading The 990s Backwards

30:13 The Award-Winning Flowchart

35:34 Twelve Groups, One Compliance Person

39:25 MAGA Or Chamber Of Commerce?

41:43 Who Anschutz Funds In Washington

45:37 Batting .500 With Eight On The Ballot

49:05 Courts, Power, And North Carolina

51:26 Initiatives, Think Tank, Newspapers

52:52 The Broadmoor Emails

54:43 Election Night At An Anschutz Venue

59:12 Eight Measures Built To Sue Later

01:03:47 The Amendment 85 Fight

01:22:12 Michael Fields DM’d Ana

01:25:21 Tea Time: Predictions

01:30:51 The Measures, Pass Or Fail

01:35:15 Talarico, El-Sayed, Mejía

01:37:47 Call To Action

01:39:01 Wrap And Outtakes

Meet Your Hosts

Ana Mitchell, Ph.D., is a former CDC scientist who was swept up in federal cuts and is now reinventing herself as a civic coach and creator. After a decade reducing disparities in health and education, she’s building Civically Fit (see civicallyfit.org) to make civic engagement accessible, authentic, and sustainable. A proud Latina and Colorado native, Ana is focused on helping people build community and power through everyday civic action.

Deep Singh Badhesha is an attorney, political strategist, and the founder of Lamp Strategies, a public affairs firm, with more than a decade of experience shaping campaigns and policy in Colorado. A former public school math teacher, Colorado Supreme Court clerk, Colorado House Democrats staff, and Capitol lobbyist for Denver Public Schools, he now works across campaigns, ballot initiatives, and legislative fights, and turns up on TV and radio to argue about all of it. He's the son of Punjabi immigrants, a Colorado Springs kid, a new dad, and a longtime organizer who believes community, not saviors, will rebuild the Left. He also has way too many hot takes on everything from food and sports to politics.

Links:

Website: www.LeftInTheAttic.com

Instagram: @leftintheatticpod

TikTok: @leftintheattic

Email: LeftInTheAtticPod@gmail.com

Voicemail: (303) 416-2846