Del Dems officially hire Aronson

For some reason, I thought this was old news, but I just received the email from Katie Ellis, so I guess that makes it official.

On Wednesday, the Delaware Democratic Party announced the hiring of a new Executive Director, Joe Aronson. Aronson will be responsible for guiding the Democratic Party through the important 2012 election season.

Aronson joins the Democratic Party with an impressive string of accomplishments under his belt. Most recently, Aronson served as the Executive Director of the North Dakota Democratic Non-Partisan League. Under his leadership, the Party experienced its most successful fundraising year in Party history, and recruited hundreds of young progressives into the party organization. Originally from Minnesota, Aronson has worked on campaigns for Senator Al Franken, Representative Collin Peterson, and numerous Minnesota legislators in both their campaigns and government offices. Aronson is a graduate of Saint John’s University.

“I am extremely impressed with Joe’s credentials and his commitment to the progressive cause,” said State Chairman John D. Daniello. “I look forward to seeing what new ideas and perspective he can bring to our party organization.”

“I’m really excited to be part of this strong party with such great leaders and elected officials,” Aronson said. “I look forward to getting out across the state and meeting with all of our activists and supporters to ensure that 2012 is another successful year for the Delaware Dems.”

I don’t know much about Joe Aronson, and I hope to meet him shortly. I hope he is a committed Progressive, and I hope John Daniello is sincere when he says that he is impressed with commitment to the progressive cause.

The Delaware Democratic Party is the dominant party in Delaware. It has controlled the Governorship for nearly 20 years, and is well positioned to win reelection for Governor Markell. All of the statewide officers but for the Auditor are Democrats, some better than others (I am mostly thinking of the Insurance Commissioner here). All of our representatives in Congress are Democrats. Democrats control both houses of the General Assembly. We won all these positions because we had some good candidates, and we have the right policy solutions for the problems Delaware faces.

But…. sooner or later, a party in power for long periods tends to get corrupted and arrogant. And sooner or later, the Delaware Republican Party will get its act together and return to its duPont business moderation, rather than the fire and brimstone right wing screeches of David Anderson and Christine O’Donnell.

We must not become victims of the Delaware Way. And I am not talking about engaging in politics with civility and respect. I am talking about losing transparency. I am talking about “nominating somebody just because he is next in line.” Backroom political deals. That is how a governing party either loses touch or appears to lose touch. That is how a governing party or officeholders become corrupt.

In large part, this is more the job of Governor Markell, Speaker Gilligan and Senator DeLuca. They are responsible for making government open and transparent. But it is Joe’s job to make sure we are finding new progressive candidates committed to open progressive government. I hope he succeeds.

Katie’s email also announced that she is leaving her position as Communications Director to go to law school. Best of luck, Katie!!