Wasserman Schultz and Meek told the Miami Herald March 8 they would take a hands-off approach to these races because of their working political and personal relationships with the Republican incumbents being challenged: brothers Lincoln and Mario Diaz-Balart in the 21st and 25th Districts, respectively, and 18th District Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen . All three are Cuban-Americans. Wasserman Schultz, Meek and the Republican lawmakers all represent areas in Southern Florida with sizable numbers of Cuban-American voters and Mario Diaz-Balart , Wasserman Schultz and Meek have a history of serving together in the state legislature.
The incumbents have crossed party lines to join forces on certain issues, especially when it comes to Cuba. In July, Wasserman Schultz and Meek voted against a majority of their party to side with the three Republicans against an amendment that would have eased banking restrictions on Cuba purchasing U.S. agriculture goods.
This is about a foreign policy decision that is a toxic combination of sugar interests and right-wing politics.
By and large, the DCCC has been very good this cycle; I'm particularly impressed by Chris Van Hollen's choice to stay out of the Maryland fourth primary. But what Debbie Wasserman Schultz is doing in not supporting Democrats against three extreme right-wing Florida Republicans is not just bad politics and disloyal to the Democratic Party, it is also enabling the worst instincts of the hardline conservative movement within both parties. Wasserman Schultz is purely doing this to sustain the embargo against Cuba, and she's reaping donations from sugar interests as a result.
Now obviously she believes in the embargo as well, but the corrosive effect of generating campaign donations from bad policy choices regardless of the intent damages trust in our institutions and makes them less powerful. The Cuba embargo is an easy question, and Congress is getting it wrong because of people like Wasserman Schultz and the Diaz-Balart brothers.
Just for the record, I'm not in favor of knocking out all Republicans either -- so perhaps I have a bit of the Wasserman Schultz sin in my own file. I was for instance supportive of Maryland Eastern Shore anti-Iraq war Republican Wayne Gilchrest who lost his primary battle recently.
But the Diaz-Balart brothers and Ros-Lehtinen are not moderate in any sense of the word, are embracers of Bush's wars, and have been responsible for sustaining a counter-productive embargo of Cuba by the United States that 183 nations of the world voted against us on this past year in the United Nations.
Debbie Wasserman Schultz is helping to defend the political turf of not the best in the Republican Party -- but the worst.
If you want to join the effort today, feel free to call these numbers and express your own point of view.
DCCC Chair Chris Van Hollen (campaign office):
E-mail: chris@vanhollen.org
Phone: 301-942-3768
DCCC Headquarters:
Contact form
Phone: 202-863-1500
Wasserman Schultz's actions regarding her position at the DCCC flow directly from her desire to sustain one of the most obviously counterproductive measures in American foreign policy history, the embargo against Cuba. Please be polite, and ask the DCCC why her policy choice is more of a priority than her position at the DCCC.
... Adding a fun fact about Wasserman Schultz: Did you know that she is the only Democrat to give money to both Al Wynn and Dan Lipinski this election cycle?
I like Debbie Wasserman Schultz. She's clearly brilliant and amazingly effective as a Congresswoman. I spoke with her on inauguration day in 2007, and it was striking that her daughter was wearing wheelies and playing around in the hall, and I just thought she looked like a well-adjusted and fun mother who also happened to be one of the most powerful young members of Congress. Here's what I wrote in February.
"This is the new Democratic team and the new Democratic Party in this part of the country! And people better start getting used to it!" - Mitch Kates, aka 'Jason the Terrible' after state Senator Charlie Justice's victory
I met the most wonderful people in Florida yesterday, and though I've become immensely cynical of late, the people-powered revolution quietly sweeping through the party was clearly in evidence. I spoke at the netroots component of the Florida Democratic Convention, in Orlando in the middle of the state. Orlando is a swampy humid area dominated by hospitality workers and vacationing Midwesterners. It's a beautiful area with a natural swampiness, the kind of tropical Everglaes-esque foliage I love.
