The Team Expands

Hiring staff people is a very tricky thing for a campaign. Do not take my word for it, look at the churning that has gone on among the senior staff ranks of the top Presidential campaigns such as John McCain and Hillary Clinton. Trying to keep a job as a campaign manager these days is like trying to cross the Bridge of Death in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Back in 2004 when I ran for Insurance Commissioner, I used an extremely scientific process to hire my one campaign staff member, Dana Rohrbough. I met Dana when I was giving a talk at a Political Science department event at the University of Delaware, saw how enthusiastic she was about Democratic politics, asked a few people about her, and then offered her a job. She ended up doing a phenomenal job—so good, in fact, that she was hired by Jack Markell for his 2006 State Treasurer campaign and is now his Deputy Campaign Manager.

Because that Zen style approach worked so well for me in 2004, I adopted it again this year, and I think we have found another star. Beginning Monday, University of Delaware junior Alyssa Koser will be working for the Denn Campaign. Alyssa hails from Lewes, and has the type of broad volunteer background that demonstrates her commitment to the Democratic Party and its causes, including stints with Voices without Borders and the presidential campaigns of some guy named Biden and more recently of Barack Obama. She is very active in a number of groups on campus, and her post-graduation plan is to become a school teacher in the Teach for America program. But most importantly of all, when I talked to her and when I talked to other people about her, my gut told me that this was someone who was going to bring incredible enthusiasm and commitment to my campaign. Of course, my gut has also told me for the last decade that the Eagles had a chance of going all the way, but I think I am on more solid ground here.

Please be nice to Alyssa when she calls—and trust me, she will be calling. And don’t forget, if you would like to contribute to the Pay Alyssa A Decent Wage fund (also known as the Denn campaign treasury), you can do so by clicking here.