U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Democrat from South Florida who doubles as the chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, was blasted in a lengthy article in Politico that documented her rocky relationship with the Obama White House and indicated her tenure might be limited.
As our McClatchy colleague Marc Caputo of the Miami Herald has already recounted, such assessments -- driven in large part by unnamed sources – have become something of a seasonal staple.
The take by Politico, a Washington-based news organization: The congresswoman is “in a behind-the-scenes struggle with the White House, congressional Democrats and Washington insiders who have lost confidence in her as both a unifying leader and reliable party spokesperson at a time when they need her most.”
Her spokesman said she was traveling and unavailable for comment (although the Politico article did quote her at length).
As for the Democratic National Committee, press secretary Michael Czin offered the committee’s defense, in a statement:
“The chair has worked tirelessly for President Obama and Democrats up and down the ballot in her three and a half years at the helm of the DNC. That’s why President Obama reappointed her following his own reelection.
“The chair’s record and accomplishments at the DNC speaks for themselves. Just this cycle she has traveled to 99 cities and 37 states to participate in hundreds of events in support of Democrats up and down the ticket. This cycle the DNC has raised more than $120 million, retired more than $20 million in debt that helped us win in 2012, built a groundbreaking program to expand access to the ballot box while providing campaigns of all size the same data and technology platforms that the Obama campaign pioneered. That’s a record anyone would be proud of.”