Politics Wires

Obama keeps Debbie Wasserman Schultz as Democratic Party chair

 
 

Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz during the 2012 presidential campaign
Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz during the 2012 presidential campaign
Amy Beth Bennett / Sun Sentinel/MCT

McClatchy Newspapers

President Barack Obama on Monday asked Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida – who led the Democratic Party in a triumphant election year but also was criticized for a platform snafu during the party’s convention – to serve another term as the chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee.

“I’ve asked Debbie Wasserman Schultz to continue her excellent work as chair of the DNC. Thanks for all you do, Debbie,” the president tweeted.

“Thank you, Mr. President,” she tweeted in response. “I am honored to serve.”

The Democratic National Committee is all but certain to ratify Obama’s decision at its winter meeting in January. Party chairs usually are elected for four-year terms. Wasserman Schultz would head the party during the 2014 election cycle, a tough task since a second-term president’s party historically suffers losses in midterm elections.

Wasserman Schultz, 46, who won her fifth term in Congress last month, is credited with helping to steer the Democratic National Committee to a successful election. Democrats did even better than pollsters and analysts had predicted, with net gains of two Senate seats and at least seven seats in the House of Representatives. Obama won a popular-vote majority and a big electoral-vote majority over Republican Mitt Romney.

“She’s done a good job. You can’t argue with the results of the election,” said Kathy Sullivan, Democratic national committeewoman from New Hampshire and a former chairwoman of the state party.

Wasserman Schultz supported Hillary Clinton over Obama in the 2008 Democratic nominating contest, and she’s credited with helping to push the Clintons to campaign vigorously for the party this fall.

Though party officials regard her highly, Wasserman Schultz came under some fire earlier this year at the Democratic National Convention. The gathering in Charlotte, N.C. – carefully calibrated to give Obama a rousing sendoff for the general election campaign – erupted in chaos when the platform failed to mention God or to say that Jerusalem is Israel’s rightful capital.

Wasserman Schultz called the omissions “essentially a technical oversight.” The language was changed after the issues were made public, but the revisions came only after a confused scene on the convention floor. Convention Chairman Antonio Villaraigosa, the mayor of Los Angeles, called for voice votes, but the verdict was unclear. He finally said the changes had been approved, as many on the floor booed.

The controversy died quickly, and Wasserman Schultz was widely praised within the party Monday.

“You don’t mess with success,” said Dick Harpootlian, the chairman of the South Carolina Democratic Party. “There’s a very small group of people involved with and enthralled by the party platform, but it often doesn’t affect the vote.”

Email: dlightman@mcclatchydc.com; Twitter: @lightmandavid

Read more Politics Wires stories from the Miami Herald

  •  

FILE - In this April 26, 2013, file photo police officers stand by as Muslims leave the Islamic Society of Boston mosque in Cambridge, Mass., which was attended occasionally by Tamerlan Tsarnaev for Friday prayers, according to Islamic Society of Boston leaders. Within hours of the blasts at the Boston marathon, government officials and members of Boston’s Muslim community called each other, offering assistance. Representatives from the Justice and Homeland Security departments offered support to Muslim communities in case they suffered backlash or threats, though it would be days before law enforcement connected the suspected bombers to a violent interpretation of Islam.

    Community outreach key to Obama counterterror plan

    Within hours of the Boston Marathon blasts, government officials and Boston Muslims called each other to offer assistance, calls that were the fruits of years of cultivating such relationships in an effort to ultimately prevent the very type of attack Boston experienced April 15.

  •  

FILE - In this March 18, 2013, file photo, Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, holds a hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee about immigrant women and immigration reform on Capitol Hill in Washington. For all the soothing words she heard from fellow Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Hirono never had a chance to win a relatively modest change to far-reaching immigration legislation. Instead, the hidden hand of the bipartisan Gang of Eight reached out and rejected her attempt to create an immigration preference for close relatives of citizens with an extreme hardship _ the same force that had already derailed dozens other proposals deemed to violate the delicate trade-offs made by the bill’s bipartisan authors.

    Key senators tightly control immigration debate

    For all the soothing words she heard from fellow Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii never had a chance to win a relatively modest change to far-reaching immigration legislation.

  •  

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel arrives for a graduation and commissioning ceremony at the U.S. Military Academy, Saturday, May 25, 2013, in West Point, N.Y.

    Hagel: Cadets must stamp out sex assault scourge

    Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told cadets at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point on Saturday that they must stamp out the scourge of sexual assault in the military.

Miami Herald

Join the
Discussion

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere on the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

The Miami Herald uses Facebook's commenting system. You need to log in with a Facebook account in order to comment. If you have questions about commenting with your Facebook account, click here.

Have a news tip? You can send it anonymously. Click here to send us your tip - or - consider joining the Public Insight Network and become a source for The Miami Herald and el Nuevo Herald.

Hide Comments

This affects comments on all stories.

Cancel OK

  • Videos

  • Quick Job Search

Enter Keyword(s) Enter City Select a State Select a Category