Debbie Wasserman Schultz to be vice chair of DNC?

[madfloridian]

Debbie and the DNC

It's not often that Republican Reps Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and the Diaz-Balarts must be happy about announcements of new Democratic leadership, but the buzz that Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz will be elected vice chair of the Democratic National Committee today, must have them smiling. As co-chair of the Democratic Party's Red to Blue congressional campaign group she announced that she wouldn't be able to campaign against any of the three due to her friendships. Now that she's slated for a bigger role, don't expect expelling these three to take priority at DNC HQ.

..." Of course, the other sore point about her new gig is that she'll be part of the new leadership replacing the Howard Dean regime. As party chair Dean engineered one of the greatest turn-arounds the modern Democratic party has ever seen with his 50 state strategy, helping Dems take back both houses of Congress and the Presidency. He was rewarded for his efforts by being replaced with Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, and coming out empty handed in the Obama cabinet sweepstakes.

From the Miami Herald Blog

Big new post for Wasserman Schultz?

Debbie Wasserman Schultz is expected to be elected a vice chair of the Democratic National Committee today.

At the top spot: Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, President Barack Obama's choice as DNC chair. Wasserman Schultz had been in the running to head up the national party's House recruiting efforts, but Rep. Chris Van Hollen elected to stay in the post.

That's got to sting a little.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

1. Congrats Debbie!

:toast:

[Freddie Stubbs]

2. Great news!

The number of Democrats in the House grew significantly due to Wasserman Schultz's leadership.

[madfloridian]

3. Another comment in verification.

"Also making appearances at the NJDC event were Susan Turnbull, the Democratic National Committee vice-chairwoman who is completing her term; U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the Florida Democrat who is adding DNC vice-chair to her manifest responsibilities (she's a deputy whip and one of the party's major fund-raisers); Franken, the putative senator from Minnesota; and Peter Yarrow (of Peter, Paul and Mary), who led some aging (and not so aging) liberals in a stirring Israeli-American rendition of "This Land is Your Land" (you try rhyming California/New York Island with Jerusalem/Tel Aviv.)"

http://blogs.jta.org/politics/article/2009/01/18/1002342/welcome-to-the-bush-wars-redux

Surprising appointment.

[Freddie Stubbs]

5. Like most Democratic elected officials, she is a strong supporter of Israel

[dflprincess]

8. Just because it was a NJDC event, I wouldn't make the leap that

it was all liberals singing along with Peter Yarrow.

Franken (along with other Democrats) attended a never-question-anything-the-Israeli-government does event in Minneapolis a week or so ago that also featured Normie Coleman, Michelle Bachmann and John Kline. Not what I'd call a liberal crowd.

[madfloridian]

10. I only posted it as verification she was vice chair.

Today was the first I had seen it.

[dflprincess]

17. I realized you were just citing the article

and I know you wouldn't assume it was a liberal crowd just because of the group. It just irked me that the blogger described it as "liberal". (Like having "Democratic" in the title means a group is liberal. If that were true we wouldn't have to worry about the DNC or DLC)

[madfloridian]

4. After the FL primaries, this sets a certain tone for many of us.

Wasserman Schultz one of leaders of FL fight.

There is a video of her saying that for her to be asked about the fact that the FL legislation voted 115 to 1 for the early primary is an "inappropriate line of questioning."

It was taken down at You Tube, so I need to find it in other form.

"On Edit: Here is Debbie WS being "combative" when asked about the 115 to 1 vote for the primary. She refuses to answer, says it is an "inappropriate" line of questioning."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPWrZ5UWFR8

[Freddie Stubbs]

11. And she was successful. All Florida delegates were seated

[madrchsod]

6. oh great....well at least she`s not in charge

it`s going to be a real interesting election in 2010...

[Freddie Stubbs]

13. Yes, Tim Kaine will be running the DNC

[madfloridian]

7. Wasserman Schultz and Bill Nelson led the fight against Dean and the DNC rules

during the FL primary.

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/1455

"And Bill doesn't even know what he could charge Dean and the DNC with:

The state's congressional delegation also sent a letter to DNC Chairman Howard Dean threatening a voting rights investigation in response to sanctions. However, national Democratic officials insist there is no legal basis to force the party to seat delegates in violation of its rules, and Nelson could not say what law the DNC would be violating or where the case could be pursued.

Debbie Wasserman Schultz was on the call:

Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz was also on the conference call and said, "We should not be disenfranchising voters based on arcane political party rules and people stamping their foot and insisting on getting their way instead of making sure that we can move forward with an election that has a united party in one of the most important states in the country.

"Arcane" political party rules? Really? Now she is Vice Chair.

Those in the DNC who were stamping their feet and insisting on getting their way.....just move right on along now. There's a new vice chair in town with different rules.

[Freddie Stubbs]

12. Hopefully this time no one will try to use the rules to disenfranchise voters

[madfloridian]

14. Arcane party rules? Really?

Will they still be arcane with the new sheriffs in town?

[WI_DEM]

9. She's a fighter, I'll say that.

[madfloridian]

15. All that talk about rules "unproductive."

From the video in the OP...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dME7Kf2c-9U

""Congresswoman and Hillary supporter, Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) states while advocating for a new "Do-Over" Florida primary that we need to stop worrying about whether rules were broken and that "all of this talk about the rules and that kind of thing is counterproductive".

Having rules is unproductive?

Dean said play by the rules, she said that would be unproductive. Debbie said FL had raw nerves...stop worrying about rules for FL.

[Freddie Stubbs]

18. Is whining about the primaries productive?

:shrug:

[madfloridian]

16. More DNC changes.

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=11034

" 1. Increasing Centralization: The shift in resources away from paid media and toward on the ground organizers will continue. However, these resources will be more directly controlled by the DNC itself, rather than by state parties. In other words, the SPP program where the DNC pays for organizers chosen by the state parties themselves is, as previously reported, done. Instead, the DNC will likely hire and assign organizers themselves. State party grants will also likely be transformed into more centrally directed expenditures by the DNC.

2. More swing state, less fifty-state: Many, if not most, states will have more resources spent on them during the next four years than during the previous four years. In addition to increasingly centralized control over how these resources are spent, there will also be a return to a swing-state focus for 2012. However, it is important to keep in mind that the Obama campaign's version of a swing state strategy was broader than either the Gore or Kerry incarnations.

In short, the DNC will be moving away from the long-term, decentralized, fifty-state strategy of Howard Dean's tenure, and toward serving as a short-term, centralized re-election effort for President Obama in 2012. It will continue the move away from paid media ushered in by Howard Dean, maintain or increase the amount of resource expenditures in most states, and the number of states it targets will be a broader effort than the narrow focus we saw in 2001-2004 (but more narrow than 2005-2008). However, it will return to the traditional role of the DNC as a supplement for the sitting President's re-election campaign, rather than as the long-term, localized institution building operation that is was from 2005-2008.

The fifty-state strategy of 2005-2008 is going to be replaced with the "re-elect President Obama" strategy of 2009-2012."

Returning more to a swing state focus. And away from what worked.

[madfloridian]

19. It's official...Debbie WS is vice chair.

"As expected, U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Weston this afternoon was elected as one of the Democratic National Committee's vice chairs. She and other officers of the DNC serve four year terms.

Also, Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine was formally elected as chairman.

Wasserman Schultz will join Linda Chavez-Thompson and Rep. Mike Honda of California, who were re-elected as party vice chairs.

In addition, members of the DNC also voted to elect Donna Brazile as the vice chair for voter registration and participation; Alice Travis Germond was re-elected as Secretary of the DNC; and Andrew Tobias of Miami as Treasurer."

http://www.mgwashington.com/index.php/herd_washington/index/its-official-floridas-wasserman-schultz-is-a-dnc-vice-chair/2436/

[MrCoffee]

20. What, they couldn't find a Democrat for the job?

[madfloridian]

21. She's the up and coming star of the party.

The party leaders get to choose their stars.

I wish they included others but they don't.

She hurt a lot of us during the primary, but the pain of that is easing off because I don't care that much anymore.

[Raine]

22. Congrats Debbie

when she's your advocate, she's a true fighter!

[anonymous171]

23. She was horrible during the primaries, but got in line for the general.

She was a pretty effective surrogate too, if I recall correctly.

[madfloridian]

24. What more concerns many Floridians is her lack of support for Dem candidates

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/1909

"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.

''At the end of the day, we need a member who isn't going to pull any punches, who isn't going to be hesitant,'' Wasserman Schultz said.

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, opposing Lincoln Diaz-Balart; outgoing Miami-Dade Democratic party chair Joe Garcia, opposing Mario Diaz-Balart; and businesswoman Annette Taddeo, opposing Ros-Lehtinen.

But Wasserman Schultz and Meek say their ties to the three Republicans are personal as well as professional: Both served in the state Legislature with Mario Diaz-Balart and say they work in concert with all three on South Florida issues."

They all lost. She eventually supported them after pressure from the grassroots. Our Dems were in a good position here, and without proper support they lost.

[anonymous171]

25. Oh yeah I forgot about that.

Another Florida "democrat."

[madfloridian]

26. She's very powerful on TV

She really is. But she is one who advocates handpicking candidates and ignoring the others.

[Freddie Stubbs]

27. So concerned that no one bother to run against her?

:shrug: