Wasserman Schultz hypocritical about rules. 2008 said Dean's DNC rules "counterproductive"

[madfloridian]

Last edited Sun Sep 20, 2015, 05:20 PM - Edit history (2)

Shortening a very very long involved story...during 2008 primary FL and MI voted to move their primaries ahead in violation of DNC rules. Howard Dean was chairman of the DNC and said rules should be obeyed.

Debbie was one of Hillary Clinton's campaign chairpersons. Both states launched attacks on Dean and the DNC because he stood by the party's rules.

I will never forget the words of Debbie Wasserman Schultz when an interviewer said Dean was following the rules.

She said no need to "stamp feet" about rules being broken.

This part really got to me.

She even told CNN that "we need to stop worrying about whether rules were broken and that all of this talk about the rules and that kind of thing is counterproductive".

She has definite rules now about debates. How would she feel if someone broke those rules under her chairmanship.

She felt strongly she was right, even when she and Ed Schultz confronted each other on Larry King live in 2008. It was a shocking confrontation.

I have no idea how this primary will end. It wasn't supposed to end last time with Obama as the winner.

I do know that manipulating the debate schedule means that the candidate with the most name recognition has the best chance. People pay attention to debates.

I do know that I feel anger building up that should not be happening. It is undemocratic to keep all party voices from being heard.

Debbie has her rules. She didn't care much for rules in 2008. Something is wrong with that picture.

Edit to add the Sept 14 Charles Pierce column at Esquire:

The 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.

.....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.

[Pope Sweet Jesus]

1. Blast it out to the media.

Increase the pressure for DWS to open the debates or be hypocritical and watch the total collapse of her precious party when the people decide the DNC is worthless.

Funds will dry up, and Wasserman-Schultz should have no choice but to resign in disgrace from all her positions and go hide in some sinkhole in Miami.

[madfloridian]

7. It's stunning how stubborn she is.

[SusanCalvin]

28. Because she thinks she can get away with it. nt

[madfloridian]

31. ....

And it seems she can get away with it. No one seems willing or able to do anything about it.

[peacebird]

2. DWS is all about ignoring the rules if it helps elect Hillary. The DNC is supposed to be unbiased

As are the state parties. The DNClinton however is all about getting Clinton elected. Hell, people on the board have actively held fundraisers for. Hillary.

[madfloridian]

3. ....

Agreed there should be no bias.

[madfloridian]

4. Debate rules were not run by the DNC exec committee or members. Made on her own and staff.

Charles Pierce

http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/news/a37912/the-democratic-revolt-against-the-dnc-chair-begins/

The 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.

.....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.

[bvar22]

5. Ed Schultz nailed it!

There are 3 Parties in the US:
The Democrats, The Republicans, and The Clintons!
I really did Laugh Out Loud.

DWS hasn't changed, or gotten any smarter.
She obviously believes that if she hitches her wagon to The Clintons,
the money will come rolling in...... and she may be right.

[madfloridian]

6. What a video that was.

Both Schultzes just kept talking. I had to laugh, too.

[SusanaMontana41]

46. I laughed, too.

The more things change …

[KoKo]

8. ...! and..

I saw on C-Span how she treated those protesting with signs in the audience at the NH DNC Convention this weekend and she didn't take a break she just kept on talking although she was a bit rattled, speaking faster. Totally unresponsive to those who were part of that Convention.

She isn't even a good politician...it always seems to be about her authority.

[madfloridian]

9. Just added the video I had lost...where she says rules counterproductive.

Very nervy.

[HereSince1628]

10. DSW has made her bed, and she doesn't want any progressive to thrash around in it.

She might find life more enjoyable if she did, but she won't.

She's added up the spreadsheet data, that was conveniently provided to her, and it sums to: protect the status quo of the leadership. Interesting that. From her point of view it's obvious that she -IS- the leadership.

[madfloridian]

39. And yet she supported FL Republicans over Democrats.

Said they were her friends.

[HereSince1628]

40. I don't see really see any credible contradiction in that for DSW

[bigdarryl]

11. My main question is how the fuck was she chosen to

Be the DNC Chair person anyway.The woman sounds incompetent and way out of her lead for the job.Who's bright idea was it to pick a sitting Congress person that's like having two full time jobs.

[madfloridian]

12. 3 guesses on that.

[elleng]

13. More, To refresh our recollections about 2008 Dem party primary 'games:'

Although Obama led Clinton in delegates won through state contests, Clinton claimed that she had the popular vote lead as she had more actual votes from the state contests. However, this calculation could not include many states that had held caucuses, which Obama had dominated, and it did include Michigan and Florida, which neither Clinton nor Obama contested due to the Democratic National Committee's penalization of those states for violating party rules.

The 2008 Dem party kerfuffle: Disputed primaries

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251606677

[YOHABLO]

14. She's Hillary's tool. No doubt. I say throw her out now.

[SusanCalvin]

15. Howard Dean had a good suggestion on a talking head show this AM.

Just throw out the exclusivity clause. Sounds good to me.

[madfloridian]

16. At least that would allow for more visibility for O'Malley and Sanders.

Just seems that the debate rules are important enough to have the DNC exec committee involved.

[SusanCalvin]

17. Oh, yeah, absolutely.

This whole thing stinks. But maybe throwing out the exclusivity clause would save face for DWS.

[MerryBlooms]

20. She's been steadfast since she announced her debate schedule

I think she and Clinton's campaign agreed to the schedule and that's it. Done.

[SusanCalvin]

21. The schedule, yes. And sure it was collusion.

What Dr. Dean proposed was just throwing out the exclusivity clause. I know DWS isn't going to change the schedule, but maybe Dr. Dean's suggestion would be enough of a face-saver.

[MerryBlooms]

25. DWS doesn't think she needs to save face.

People who want more debates aren't considered the base-- we're of no consequence to HRC. I'm beginning to think Sanders' supporters are going to be dismissed and considered collateral damage.

[SusanCalvin]

27. I hate that woman.

Since her most recent response to the protesters, she activates my middle-finger reflex.

[MerryBlooms]

29. I hear ya- hang tough.

[SusanaMontana41]

47. Not very democratic, is it? eom

[MerryBlooms]

18. rec & kick

[Enthusiast]

19. I do not like Debbie Wasserman Schultz. I mean personally like. At all.

Aside from the shenanigans.

[SusanCalvin]

22. After her hypocritical response to the recent protesters,

I don't either. She now activates my middle-finger reflex.

[Warren DeMontague]

24. She palled up with Sheldon Adelson to support sending cancer patients to prison for smoking pot

in Florida.

I have no idea who thinks she's a rational or competent leader. She's a disaster.

[SusanCalvin]

30. That's disgusting. nt

[Warren DeMontague]

33. Indeed.

[madfloridian]

37. She did harm to our movement to legalize medical marijuana here in Florida.

John Morgan can not stand her because of that. She is so stubborn.

[Warren DeMontague]

23. she's a fucking train wreck as DNC chair.

[BuelahWitch]

26. Dirty Tricks Debbie

will turn away prospective new Democrats. Get rid of her!

[Uncle Joe]

32. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, madfloridian.

[madfloridian]

34. Who chose Debbie WS as chair of the DNC

http://www.politico.com/story/2011/04/wasserman-schultz-to-lead-dnc-052605

President Barack Obama has chosen Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz as the incoming chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, the party announced late Tuesday.

Wasserman Schultz, 44, was chosen for her strength as a fundraiser and as a television messenger and for her clout in the crucial swing state of Florida, the sources said.

She will succeed Tim Kaine, who announced earlier Tuesday that he will run for U.S. Senate from Virginia.

The committee announced the choice in an email to members from Vice President Joe Biden.

“In selecting Debbie to lead our party, President Obama noted her tenacity, her strength, her fighting spirit and her ability to overcome adversity,” Biden wrote.

“President Obama expressed great admiration for her as a leader, and he was honored that she accepted this important challenge on behalf of the Democratic Party.”

Wasserman Schultz becomes the first female DNC chief in 15 years and the third in history.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2011/04/wasserman-schultz-to-lead-dnc-052605#ixzz3mKQtUXTK

[madfloridian]

35. Chosen for clout as fundraiser and influence in FL.

I get the feeling that having an inclusive atmosphere at the party not as important as money.

[FloriTexan]

36. Kicking and Recommending

She needs to go!

[madfloridian]

38. .....

Yep

[madfloridian]

41. 2008 Clinton donors publicly attacked Dean as chair. Dean answered back.

Dean's response then indicates the kind of chairman we need now. One who is totally committed to all in the party.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=5383774&mesg_id=5383774

This was supposed to be a meeting about funding the DNC, (second link), but Clinton bundlers chose to inject the issue of Michigan and Florida and it became heated.


-snip

Dean said that in his view, the question could be settled only after the primaries had finished in June, and after the superdelegates had made their decision.

At that point Clinton campaign finance chair Hassan Nemazee spoke up. He said Dean's response sounded to him as if the DNC chairman were "essentially trying to kick the can down the road" and that the chairman was not exhibiting the type of leadership one would expect. Nemazee said that since the campaigns obviously could not reach a solution on their own before June, Dean's argument amounted to passing the buck.

Dean then responded, heatedly, that in his experience, those who sought the intervention of party leadership were motivated by their own particular agendas. And that was not the sort of leadership he intended to provide.

Nemazee answered that he had in know way insinuated that Dean should bring about a particular outcome, and was only calling for the chairman to take a more active role in exercising leadership. Nemazee said it needed to happen before the primaries, not after.

He also said, according to the attendee, that he found Dean's tone accusatory and "pejorative."

Nemazee left shortly after the exchange.

[sabrina 1]

43. Makes you wonder why Dean is so loyal to them now. It makes as little sense to me that he

would be rooting for the people who went out of their way to destroy him, now, than it does that DWS has done an about turn on her opinion of the 'rules'.

There must be something in the water in DC. People seem to become different people once they get inside that bubble.

[madfloridian]

44. It only makes sense...

in a wider context of what they called the "intellectual leveraged buyout"of the Democratic Party.

The Wise Geek says a "leveraged buyout" is synonymous with "hostile takeover."

A leveraged buyout is a tactic through which control of a corporation is acquired by buying up a majority of their stock using borrowed money. It may also be referred to as a hostile takeover, a highly-leveraged transaction, or a bootstrap transaction. Once control is acquired, the company is often made private, so that the new owners have more leeway to do what they want with it. This may involve splitting up the corporation and selling the pieces of it for a high profit, or liquidating its assets and dissolving the corporation itself.

It's very profitable inside the bubble.

[sabrina 1]

45. Yes, I just read your other excellent OP on the hostile takeover of our party.

It looks like Dean didn't want to be left out in the end. But he did have many conservative views, which Trippi pointed out, proudly no less.

So perhaps he was a good fit for them after all and once they realized that, accepted him? I don't know, but this is why I so respect the few who did not sell out to these infiltrators. And they appear to very much in the minority.