DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz has been in office for just over a month, but already her gaffes are piling up.bFirst came her fantastic distortions of the GOP Medicare plan, which were quickly torn apart by the three most prominent media fact-checkers. Then came the “anti-women” blunder, the “illegal immigration” stumble, the faux pas with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, and the “Jim Crow” flap.
And according to Politico, Democrats are privately growing concerned:
No one seems ready to declare her the Democratic version of Michael Steele, the gaffe-prone former Republican National Committee chairman whose rhetorical and administrative missteps led numerous party leaders to publicly insist he had to go. But some Democrats are already privately fretting about the media-loving Wasserman Schultz’s tendency to put her foot in her mouth — after all, her ability to be the party’s frontwoman and messenger was a major reason President Barack Obama selected her as chairwoman.
One consultant with DNC ties told Politico that, “This is a growing pain that she and Team Obama are going to need to figure out, and it’s a good thing for both sides that she’s making the gaffes now — so that they can address this.”
It is the very beginning of Wasserman Schultz’s tenure, and there’s certainly some time to play damage control. But her recent errors will be tricky to clean up. Conservatives are already jumping on Wasserman Schultz’s gaffes, and American Crossroads released a pretty devastating campaign ad mocking the DNC chair earlier this week.
At the moment, these attacks aren’t a top dilemma for Democrats. But as the presidential election gets closer, Republicans will tie any of Wasserman Schultz’s goofy statements to President Obama. At some point soon the DNC will need to decide whether it’s worth trying to rein her in, or whether she’s too much of a liability.
