Joe Henderson
While it probably was premature to prepare the political obituary for U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, that doesn’t mean the controversies around the long-serving Florida congresswoman haven’t taken a toll.
A new Florida Sun Sentinel/Florida Atlantic University poll shows Wasserman Schultz with a 10-point lead over challenger Tim Canova with little more than a week to go before the Democratic primary in CD-23 district covering parts of Broward and Dade counties.
That’s the good news for Wasserman Schultz, who has been in Congress since 2004.
It’s kind of a mixed bag though, starting with the fact she faces a challenge in the first place. She ran unopposed the 2014 primary, and she swept to victory in November with about 63 percent of the vote.
More ominously for her future political ambitions, her race with Canova is much closer than you would think a high-profile member of Congress would face from her own party. And Canova has been especially impressive in fund-raising, taking in $3.3 million to Wasserman Schultz’s $3.1 million.
About one-third of Canova’s money was raised since July 1, when almost every story about Wasserman Schultz included some sort of controversy.
She was forced to surrender her position as head of the party’s national committee last month after embarrassing email leaks showed she helped steer the presidential nomination to Hillary Clinton.
She was further humiliated when she was booed off the podium while trying to speak to the Florida delegation at the convention. Add in that she already was facing a formidable primary challenger in Canova, who has campaigned hard for Wall Street reform. He shares many of the populist positions championed by Bernie Sanders.
Wasserman Schultz has most of the major endorsements – President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, labor unions, the state’s LGBTA caucus, and so on. So, Canova countered with a major from Sanders’ stump speech to paint his opponent as an entrenched insider who is part of the problem.
That unquestionably has hurt her.
Although the polls now trend in Wasserman Schultz’s favor, voters appear to be sending a message that is far short of a mandate. Assuming she holds off Canova and wins in November, her future in national politics will be interesting to watch.
She probably is finished for the time being as a public face with the Democratic Party, and she chose — wisely — not to run for Marco Rubio’s seat in the U.S. Senate.
If Clinton beats Donald Trump and Democrats regain control of the House, Wasserman Schultz could be in line to chair a committee with some power. That could give her a chance to rehabilitate her image, and few members of Congress are more in need of that than her.
Until then, she likely will have to be satisfied to follow the mantra made famous in the National Football League by former Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis — Just win, baby.
5 comments
Jim Bleyer
August 22, 2016 at 12:01 pm
Solid take, Joe!
Arshad Sherif, M.A., M.Ed.
August 22, 2016 at 1:35 pm
I wonder if Debbie finds that headline both sexist and demeaning. Obviously the author, who has a long and distinguished career in journalism, doesn’t think so. But telling her “It’s time to ‘just win, baby'” is somewhat demeaning. Only because many women object to being called “baby” and regard it as derogatory. But it is a mistake to take advantage of her weakened political standing. Some are seeing her current political struggles as an opportunity to be disrespectful. And calling her “baby” is a step in the direction of spanking her bottom as she walks by. No doubt some are waiting for just the right time. When they feel that she is sufficiently vulnerable. If power is an aphrodisiac, many feel that her current weakened political state is tantamount to placing an immobilizing potion in her drink. Some feel that they can do anything to her right now and that she is in no position to resist. Or to fight back. Congressman John Lewis, who has just spent a whole day with her campaigning for her in her district, showed the utmost respect for her when he was embracing her by keeping his hand so high up her back. (See the video of them embracing on her Facebook page.) But it is no doubt true that given her weakened political state that many men now feel encouraged to drop their hand to the middle of her back when they embrace her. If in a week she is utterly weakened as a result of losing the primary, men will be encouraged to lower their hand all the way to her bottom as they embrace her and comfort her. And they will not be afraid to squeeze tight that gorgeous bottom of hers. That is why it is imperative that she win this primary. Keeping her butt respectable and untouchable depends on it.
Jim Bleyer
August 22, 2016 at 2:20 pm
“Just win baby” refers to sports owner Al Davis’ trademark expression as noted elsewhere in the article. Did you just read the headline and jump to a ludicrous conclusion?
Andrew
August 22, 2016 at 2:55 pm
This is quite a good article by Mr. Henderson but it misses a few details and as always in politics, that’s where the devil hides.
The first important detail is that Mr. Henderson gives the (false) impression that Tim Canova’s campaign funds equate those of DWS. The reality is that Mr. Canova got a sudden influx of out-of-state money from tens of thousands of former Bernie supporters. DWS campaign funds are much, much larger and come mainly from the likes of the Fanjul Brothers, who threw a $50,000 fundraiser for Hillary Clinton just a few days ago.
The second important detail is that DWS only needs to be elected one last time to enjoy total immunity for any of her actions as DNC chairman, and can then “retire” from Congress to a cozy $3 million or more per year lobbying job at any of the large lobbying firms in Washington, DC – since she’ll probably be granted direct access to President Hillary Clinton any day, upon request. DWS is part of the closely-knit Clinton inner circle.
So even though Mr. Henderson claims DWS has been “hurt” or “humiliated”, he cannot deny that she is likely to win this primary against Tim Canova and also win in November. From then on, her future depends on Hillary Clinton defeating Donald Trump in the various swing states.
Right now, things are looking good for DWS. Very good even.
Chris Greene
August 23, 2016 at 1:59 pm
Where is the expressed outrage and shame that Clinton immediately appointed her to the campaign after her resignation?
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