With her 4.6 years in office, Debbie Wasserman Schultz is the longest-serving DNC chair since 1968. (John Moran Bailey was chair from 1961 to 1968.) She oversaw the party’s activities in 2012 (where a presidential win and Senate gain translated to only a small gain in the House) and 2014 (an utter debacle after which she should have resigned).
The shellacking in 2014, her mishandling of the Democratic presidential debates, the fact that she blocked a DNC resolution in favor of the Iran Deal, and the simple fact that she already has a job (representing Florida’s 23rd district) all show why she should be replaced (and should have been so already). I’m sure there’s even more behind-the-scenes in the DNC that we don’t even know.
But I want to focus on something else here, a reason why she was not qualified to have the job in the first place.
In 2008, DWS was a co-chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s Red to Blue program, which raises money and offers strategic advice for Democrats running in Republican-held districts.
And Democrats certainly did a good job in 2008, picking up 21 new seats to extend the majority they gained in 2006.
But if not for DWS, that majority could have been even bigger:
Democratic party leaders have tapped Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz to raise money and coach candidates in a high-stakes, aggressive bid to expand the Democratic majority in the House of Representatives.
But as three Miami Democrats look to unseat three of her South Florida Republican colleagues, Wasserman Schultz is staying on the sidelines. So is Rep. Kendrick Meek, a Miami Democrat and loyal ally to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
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This time around, Wasserman Schultz and Meek say their relationships with the Republican incumbents, Reps. Lincoln Diaz-Balart and his brother Mario, and Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, leave them little choice but to sit out the three races.
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The decision comes as Democrats believe they have their best shot in years to defeat at least one of the Cuban-American incumbents with a roster of Democrats that include former Hialeah Mayor Raul Martinez, outgoing Miami-Dade Democratic party chair Joe Garcia and businesswoman Annette Taddeo.
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The national party, enthusiastic about the three Democratic challengers, has not yet selected Red to Blue participants. But Wasserman Schultz has already told the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee that if any of the three make the cut, another Democrat should be assigned to the race.
''It needs to be somebody who can roll up their sleeves,'' Wasserman Schultz said. ``I'm just not that person; it's just too sensitive for me.''
She said the situation is not unprecedented. For years, members of Florida's Congressional delegation agreed to refrain from campaigning against each other -- a pact that serves to foster goodwill among lawmakers and potentially bring more federal dollars to Florida. It also can provide incumbents with a measure of protection against challengers.
The chair of the Democratic National Committee should not be someone who is willing to protect Republicans. End stop.