Democrats Trash 'Broke' FDP for Picking Scandal-Ridden Wasserman Schultz to Open Leadership Blue Gala

UPDATE 4:15 P.M.: Debbie Wasserman Schultz has pulled out of speaking at the Florida Democratic Party's Leadership Blue gala after party staffers confirmed she would delivering opening remarks. 

Grumblings are growing louder over former Democratic National Committee chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s scheduled opening remarks for the Florida Democratic Party’s Leadership Blue gala this weekend.

FDP staffers recently announced Wasserman Schultz would be opening up the annual gathering of party faithful, which is scheduled to take place Saturday in Hollywood. 

By Tuesday, Wasserman Schultz was out of the program entirely.
 
Not everybody was happy about Wasserman Schultz rolling through the gala after bulldozing the party’s reputation last summer.
  
Wasserman Schultz’s former congressional primary opponent and Democratic activist Tim Canova took to Facebook Tuesday afternoon to criticize the FDP for its “huge problem” in selecting the South Florida congresswoman to give the opening remarks. 

Piggybacking on a Leslie Wimes column in Sunshine State News, Canova took a no holds barred approach in criticizing party leadership for its "grave mistake."

“Why the party would want to promote the very personification of scandal, disgrace, and failure to open the gala says more about the incompetence and bad faith of Bittel and his leadership team than any lip service they've given in recent months and even recent days about remaining neutral and impartial in contested primaries,” Canova wrote.

Wasserman Schultz resigned as DNC chair last July after a Wikileaks email scandal showed she and top Democratic officials were biased against Democratic primary candidate Bernie Sanders in favor of Hillary Clinton. She resigned following the DNC convention late last July.
 
Canova accused the FDP of being fresh out of cash -- bringing Wasserman Schultz into the picture, he said, wouldn’t help their cause. 
 
“This at a time when the party is reportedly broke, having trouble meeting its payroll, begging for a loan, just months after Bittel promised to raise millions and millions of dirty corporate dollars for the party,” he said. 
 
Fundraising numbers have been less than stellar for the FDP, which is still reeling from an abysmal performance during last November’s general election where the majority of statewide candidates lost their campaigns on top of a failing presidential bid from Clinton.
 
In January, party faithful named megadonor Stephen Bittel their new chair, hoping he could usher in a new era of prosperity for the party. Financial reports, however, show Democrats haven’t had an easy time getting their feet off the ground under Bittel’s leadership, and finances are rumored to be strained. 
  
The party didn’t even crack the $1 million mark during the first quarter of fundraising, bringing in $853,000 during the first three months of the year -- $100,000 of which came from Bittel himself.

Sunshine State News contacted Bittel for comment but had not received a response at the time of this article’s release.

Canova’s criticisms could also be part of a ploy to run against Wasserman Schultz once more in 2018. On Tuesday, Canova confirmed he would be announcing his political plans on Thursday in Plantation.
 
In September, he filed paperwork with the Federal Elections Commission to begin raising money once more, either against Wasserman Schultz or for another race. Canova has carried significant weight among Bernie Sanders Democrats, who helped him raise nearly $4 million in his first political race last year against Wasserman Schultz.
 

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.  
 

Reach reporter Allison Nielsen by email at allison@sunshinestatenews.com or follow her on Twitter: @AllisonNielsen.