The Democratic Revolt Against the DNC Chair Begins

By Charles Pierce, Esquire

14 September 15

Democratic operatives are starting to make noise about Debbie Wasserman-Schultz's questionable leadership.

he blog generally stays away from the Dems In Disarray narratives because, too often in the past, these have been used to obscure the fact that the Republicans are running an incredible passel of public omadhauns for president. However, the blog also has been quite clear in its desire that Democratic national chairperson Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-CNN) be removed from her current position because the evidence that she's done much of anything in the post is not exactly overwhelming. This feeling, it appears, is becoming somewhat general.

Deb Kozikowski, vice chairwoman of the Massachusetts Democratic Party, said the chief of the Democratic National Committee, US Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, had done a disservice to grass-roots volunteers by allowing Republicans to dominate the airwaves for the last month. "How do I tell these really dedicated Democrats who work really hard from top to bottom that debates for our presidential candidates are restricted, and they're there watching all these Republicans get all this air time?" she said. "I think about the folks at the grass roots who work day in day out, no money no glory, because they believe in democracy with a small 'd' and the Democratic Party with a large 'D,' getting bombarded with all these Republican candidates."

I will grant the point that the vast difference in exposure doesn't necessarily work to the Republicans' advantage, since it gives the nation an extended look at the increasing virulence of the prion disease. But, even so, the notion that DWS has screwed the pre-primary process up from hell to breakfast – and, worse, that she's loaded the dice in favor of a frontrunner who now appears to be in more than a little trouble -- has taken root.

Two national committee vice chairs, US Representative Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii and former Minneapolis mayor R.T. Rybak, have broken with Wasserman Schultz, taking to Facebook to push for more debates and for eliminating the penalty for candidates who stray from the rules. Under the current arrangement, they said, "more people will feel excluded from our political process, rather than included." New Hampshire state Senator Martha Fuller Clark, vice chairwoman of her state party, also criticized Wasserman Schultz for threatening to punish candidates who take part in unsanctioned debates, and echoed Kozikowski's concern that the Democratic Party is putting itself at a strategic disadvantage. "I'm very disappointed that the chair of the DNC has been unwilling to reconsider this schedule, which she determined on her own, with her staff. She did not run it by the executive committee of the DNC, she did not run it by the members of the DNC. People have been telling her that they are unhappy with this schedule, and she has been adamant about not making any changes," Fuller Clark said. "The decision that was made by Debbie Wasserman Schultz makes it harder to showcase all the candidates," the Portsmouth Democrat said. Fuller Clark said that she has not decided which candidate she will support for president.

While the Republicans are not shy about sitting the crazy aunts and uncles right there in the front parlor, the Democrats seem reluctant to show the country Martin O'Malley and Bernie Sanders. This is called being too clever by half. It's also called administrative incompetence. It's also called screwing up a one-car funeral.

Kozikowski, a longtime Democratic activist from Chicopee who is also vice president of the Association of State Democratic Chairs, said that New Hampshire Democrats, in particular, were wronged by the party's schedule because their state's single debate is scheduled for Dec. 19. "New Hampshire's not going to put up with one debate for their entire state, an early state, that happens between Hanukkah and Christmas. On a weekend, by the way. Nobody's going to see that debate," Kozikowski said Thursday during a telephone interview. "I just think it would be better to face the idea that maybe it was not the best solution to restrict the debates," she said.

The New Hampshire State Democratic Convention will be held this weekend. All the candidates, including Jim Webb, who currently is engaged in running the party's first stealth presidential campaign, are scheduled to speak. So is DWS. This could be a lovely bit of business.