Bleh:
Democrats knew they were getting an outspoken partisan when Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz took over the reins of the Democratic National Committee a month ago.
But they might not have known just how outspoken.
In the four weeks since she succeeded Tim Kaine, Wasserman Schultz has been called out by four nonpartisan fact-checkers for mischaracterizing the GOP’s Medicare plan.
She’s accused Republicans of wanting to reinstate segregation and of waging a “war on women.” She has asserted, somewhat nonsensically, that the GOP wants to make illegal immigration — by definition against the law — “a crime.” She’s also been mocked for driving a foreign car after pounding Republicans for not supporting the American auto industry.
A rank-and-file member of Congress typically wouldn’t get noticed for inflammatory language and rhetorical slip-ups. But Wasserman Schultz has a higher profile now — and was hired precisely because of her skills as a communicator.
No one seems ready to declare her the Democratic version of Michael Steele, the gaffe-prone former Republican National Committee chairman whose rhetorical and administrative missteps led numerous party leaders to publicly insist he had to go. But some Democrats are already privately fretting about the media-loving Wasserman Schultz’s tendency to put her foot in her mouth — after all, her ability to be the party’s frontwoman and messenger was a major reason President Barack Obama selected her as chairwoman.
One Democratic consultant with DNC ties said Wasserman Schultz is accustomed to operating on her own and will have to learn to tone it down now that she is the spokeswoman for her party and president.
Okay, first of all, the thing Wasserman Schultz has been "called out" for is saying that the GOP has proposed ending Medicare, and I'll defend that assertion to the bitter end. To say otherwise is patently absurd and robs the English language of meaning.
But, second, and more importantly, despite all the comedy about Michael Steele, despite all the criticism sent his way, let's not forget that Republicans fired him after he reclaimed the House—a victory that came two years after Republicans were blown out throughout the country. And in the wake of that victory—and Steele's firing—Debbie Wasserman Schultz took over a Democratic Party that just won a special election in a deeply red House district.
So maybe all the people in D.C. think Steele or Wasserman Schultz are jokes, maybe they laugh at them at cocktail parties, but at least they can get their jobs done instead of just blowing hot air. And that more than anything else sets them apart from the typical D.C. hack.