National bloggers, local Democrats tear into Wasserman Schultz

seafan

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Mon Mar-24-08 03:13 PM
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National bloggers, local Democrats tear into Wasserman Schultz

Edited on Mon Mar-24-08 03:21 PM by seafan

National bloggers, local Democrats tear into Wasserman Schultz

By Anthony Man | Political Writer
South Florida Sun-Sentinel

March 24, 2008

The liberal blogosphere and some local Democrats are heaping criticism on one of their own.

They're fuming at U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston, because she won't publicly join Democratic Party efforts to unseat the three Cuban-American congressional Republicans from Miami-Dade County. That's treason to some activists.
"I almost think it's a slap in the face. She needs to be held accountable," said Percy Johnson, a Democratic committeeman and president of the Fort Lauderdale Democratic Club. "Our thing as the Democratic Party is to elect Democrats. It's not to elect some Democrats, it's to elect Democrats at all levels: local, state and federal."

Wasserman Schultz said she isn't supporting the three Republicans at the expense of their Democratic challengers. "I would never stand in the way of helping elect a Democratic candidate. There is a significant difference between my not publicly, publicly getting involved in these campaigns and my trying to sabotage the campaigns of the three Democrats. Not only am I not doing that, but I want to make sure that they do well."

Wasserman Schultz is a co-chairwoman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's Red-to-Blue program, whose sole purpose is to replace Republican members of Congress with Democrats. But she has said she can't risk the consequences if she publicly works against U.S. Reps. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, Mario Diaz-Balart, and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen � and they end up getting re-elected.
"It's too sensitive for me," she said on the WPLG-Ch. 10 program This Week in South Florida with Michael Putney. A member of Congress assigned to help South Florida's Democratic challengers "just can't be me, because if I have to continue to serve with my colleagues after the election, I think I'll have done damage to our ability to work together."

The potential for such consequences wasn't an issue in 2006 when she was one of the most fervent supporters of Ron Klein during his successful effort to unseat U.S. Rep. Clay Shaw, R-Fort Lauderdale. That was different, she said, "because I had no relationship with Clay Shaw at all."

.....

Daily Kos, an influential Web site among Democrats and those who consider themselves progressive, took Wasserman Schultz to task for "knee-capping strong challengers and damaging the Democratic Party's prospects."
She's even been labeled "Debbie Dubya," a nasty slap that gives her the dripping-with-ridicule "Dubya" label liberals attach to President Bush because of his middle initial, W.

But, wait! Debbie has suddenly papered over her close personal and professional relationships with "the terrible trio" and now has concocted a *safer* reason:

In an interview this week � after liberal Internet activists filleted her over the issue and her name was bandied about at a Miami-Dade Democratic Party meeting � Wasserman Schultz said the need to preserve relations with the Diaz-Balarts and Ros-Lehtinen wasn't as big a consideration as time.

"There are going to be about 75 races that we have across the country and I can't be involved in all of them," she said. "This is a resource-allocation decision."

Sorry, Debbie. You cannot cover the stench of your betrayal of our Party.

Time commitments didn't prevent her from getting involved in the Klein-Shaw race in 2006. That year she was also co-chairing the Red-to-Blue effort, serving as a mentor to a Democratic candidate in Albany, N.Y., and visiting 15 congressional districts outside Florida.

.....

Diane Glasser of Tamarac, vice chairwoman of the Florida Democratic Party, said the situation has generated lots of rumbling among Wasserman Schultz's base of Broward Democrats.

"I don't know what her reasoning is. Debbie is a pretty level-headed woman. She didn't get to where she is by being stupid," Glasser said.

.....

Related information:

Needed: Challenger for Debbie Wasserman Schultz for November, 2008