Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a co-chair of the DCCC's Red-to-Blue program, still hasn't endorsed or donated to FL-18's great candidate for congress, even as more and more faces are showing up in Annette Taddeo's corner. What gives?
Debbie Wasserman Shultz has a solidly progressive voting record. She's been enthusiastic in her support for Barack Obama after serving as a co-chair of Hillary Clinton's national campaign. Throughout the short amount of time she's served in Congress, she's consistently ranked among the House's top fundraisers. Despite a few months' worth of hesitation, she's come out in full support of South Floridian Democratic candidates Raul Martinez and Joe Garcia.
Point is, it's not as though she doesn't know how to be a good Democrat.
So does FL-18 congressional candidate Annette Taddeo, who, as DavidNYC was kind enough to discuss a few days ago, has consistently been ignored by Rep. Wasserman Schultz in her capacity as DCCC Red-to-Blue co-chair. Annette, as those of you who attended or saw footage from Netroots Nation would certainly agree, is an intelligent, progressive, capable candidate who's taken the fight to Bush Republican Ileana Ros-Lehtinen since day one.
And most importantly, just because Rep. Wasserman Schultz isn't paying attention doesn't mean lots of others aren't. For starters, as DavidNYC noted, Rep. Kendrick Meek recently made a generous donation to Annette's campaign. Sen. Russ Feingold recently featured Annette on his Progressive Patriots PAC website. ActBlue has long supported Annette, as has Democracy for America, founded by Gov. Howard Dean. There's also Emily's List, the United Teachers of Dade, and the AFL-CIO, among many others.
Not enough yet? Then maybe you'll listen to former Sen. Bob Graham, one of Florida's most beloved and respected statesmen, who recently endorsed Annette:
Annette is a successful small businesswoman, and she’s a tough, independent-minded Democrat who will fight for the American dream. She’ll also stand up for American values, like health care for children of working families.
Annette’s opponent, Republican Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, voted five times against expanding KidCare in Florida. That’s five votes that Ros-Lehtinen cast with President Bush – and against expanding health care for children, even though Florida is last in the country for children with health care coverage, and there are 250,000 uninsured children in South Florida alone.
What else does it take to get Debbie Wasserman Schultz's attention? If all of these voices aren't enough, it's clearly going to take a few more, and your phone call might be the one to finally push her and DCCC's Red-to-Blue program over the edge. I urge you to call Rep. Wasserman Schultz's campaign office at (202) 741-7154 or send an email to AskDebbie@DWSforCongress.com and ask her what's taking so long. Remind her that FL-18 is winnable--and, as Annette has said, it's winnable now. I'm convinced Rep. Wasserman Schultz will see the light any day now, but she still needs more prodding.
Annette Taddeo will be elected to represent my district this November. It's long past time that Rep. Wasserman Schultz got on the winning team.