Brian Selander – The Darkhorse in the race to be Delaware’s next (insert office name here)
I think we have to include Selander in any list of Democrats who could/should run for some office.
He is currently in the world of private industry, but her continues to have a strong public service focus. Based all of his previous jobs, I doubt he will be content to stay away from government and politics for long. And while he is certainly mobbed up with the Markell/Carper wing on of the Democratic Party I think there are good reasons for liberals to consider him a possible candidate.
The previously mentioned public service focus appears to be genuine to me. He is heavily involved in the Hugh O’Brien Youth Leadership which is an organization that “aims to inspire and develop our global community of youth and volunteers to a life dedicated to leadership, service, and innovation.” Even his for profit company seems to have a somewhat goody two-shoes feel to it. Whistle Sports is an online media company that is very successfully bringing athletes, pro leagues, and content providers together to deliver sports content to young fans in a very uplifting, eyes-on-the-horizon way.
Add all of that to Selander’s (prior to Markell) experiences working with legit Democrats and I think he could have the right combination of tools and experience to take seriously as a candidate. Or he is a big phony.
That is, of course, possible. However, as embittered and cynical as I’ve become, I’m not so lost to cynicism that I think it is very probable.
Well, first off, he no longer lives in Delaware. He is just over the border in PA now. And he seems devoted to Whistle Sports. But I agree, he would be a good candidate.
I was wondering about the residence thing. Okay. Nevermind.
Houses can be sold.
Well, Brian was great w/Markell. But do we have any idea whether he’d be a progressive, or just another DINO?
There’s not enough info, and keep in mind that Markell was skilled at dogwhistling to progressives, only to turn out to be yet another corporatist D.
There is no evidence to prove that Selander would be anything other than a younger version of Tom Carper. There is no evidence. None. But there never is evidence. There is only hope that someone who is interested in politics can discover the better angels of their nature and be guided by them.
El Som, you misdiagnose Markell. Markell is a dichotomy. He is a social progressive and economic conservative. There were no dog whistles when it came to actual action and legislation on discrimination and marriage equality.
As a friend of his, I believe Brian is more progressive than either of his former bosses.
Markell is neither socially progressive or conservative – but simply a guy who knows which way the wind is blowing.
Oh yeah, someone in the mold of Markell…..whheeeeeeeeeeeee I can smell the breath of stale political delware air …. Go get em boy….make waves…or I should say make teeny weeny little ripples not meant to upset anyone but prove you are doing something
By running for office, you identify yourself as someone who probably should be kept from being in office. So what choice do we have, but to hope a good one makes it through the crucible every once in a while.
About whether Brian is progressive or not, many years ago when PDD was a different version than it is now, Brian served on the endorsement committee with me, and as I remember we agreed on what or was not progressive in a candidate. Take that as you may. But as Jason pointed out, it’s irrelevant because he moved to Pa.
DD-He didn’t run as an economic conservative. He kept that hidden.
True enough, El Som.
This is what I wrote to Brian on his Facebook page —
Brian, I’d ove to have you in politics, representing me, but that’s a selfish position.
“Honestly; Don’t do it while your kids are little. Knowing you, you can’t do anything half throttle, so that means you will be away from your kids every single night.
When you are home, you won’t really be there, you’ll be writing emails, calling people, reading, etc.”
Then one night, you’ll find yourself, in a fire station hallway, talking into a cell phone, telling your little girl a bedtime story because she tearfully called and said it’s been weeks since had a story from you.
Running for office was probably the greatest adventure of my life. I don’t regret it for a second. All the people I met, friends I made, everything that I learened about myself — it was amazing.
But I’ll never get back all of those nights and weekends as my kids were growing up.
It’s a balance, and a tough decision.
Anyway, that’s my advice to Brian, and any other father of young kids.
But maybe I should shut up because we need people like Brian in office. I worked with him for many years, and he’s a great guy.