Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, chair of the Democratic National Committee, speaking to delegates of the party’s convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, Sept. 6, 2012.
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Just like her political big sister, Congresswoman and DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz is finding that her plans of an easy election might not be so simple as progressive candidates and the people who support them are giving her a run for her money. On Tuesday, former congressman Barney Frank endorsed Wasserman Schultz.
“It is premature to be making decisions like that, it is May, the primary is in August and we will cross that bridge when we come to it”, Wasserman Schultz said. “With all due respect to the current chairperson, if elected president, she would not be reappointed to be chair of the DNC”, Sanders said. They worry that could distract from the effort to defeat the likely Republican nominee, Donald Trump.
Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz is on increasingly thin ice as she risks losing key support to stay in her job. Her defenders included Barbara Mikulski of Maryland, Tim Kaine of Virginia, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Bill Nelson of Florida and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, as well as House minority leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. But most of Hillary Clinton’s six selections and Wasserman Schultz’s four picks are party insiders with corporate ties.
While President Obama backs Wasserman Schultz, Canova touts presidential candidate Bernie Sanders’ endorsement.
Things have gotten so bad that even established Democratic lawmakers have begun to discuss how they can rid themselves of Wasserman Schultz. This is the first time that Wasserman Schultz has faced a primary challenger since her first bid for office in 1992 for the state Legislature. The DNC has added debates at the behest of Sanders, who said the initial schedule prevented him from getting national exposure.
The tensions between Sanders and Wasserman Schultz have been an ongoing storyline for much of the nomination fight. Wasserman Schultz has reminded voters of her long record fighting for gay rights, abortion rights and access to health care.
It also coincides with a nasty spat between Wasserman Schultz and Sen.
Moyers and Winship also strongly criticized Wasserman Schultz for her recent reversal of the donations ban from lobbyists and political action committees.
It designed the website DebtTrapDebbie.com, with an online petition that calls on Wasserman Schultz to stop “sabotaging” the federal government’s “hard work to hold payday lenders accountable”.
Ryan Banfill, Wasserman Schultz’s campaign spokesman, said “the ad, like all the others, intentionally takes her out of context”.
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Sanders’ appointees to the platform committee, meanwhile, have drawn scrutiny from the pro-Israel community for their past criticism of Israel.
