While doubts about her effectiveness circulated through Washington, D.C., on the eve of the national conventions, U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston, may get to retain her post as chair of the Democratic National Committee after all.
President Obama is reportedly going to ask the outspoken South Florida congresswoman and former state legislator back for another term, overseeing the 2014 midterm efforts, after the successes of the Democratic Party in the 2012 elections, according to Politico and the New York Times.
With President Obama at the top of the ticket and Wasserman Schultz leading the party, Democrats won the presidency, expanded its majority in the Senate and picked up seats in the House, a senior Democratic official told Politicos Mike Allen.
Wasserman Schultz has been the chair since early 2011, taking over when Tim Kaine embarked on a run for U.S. Senate in Virginia.
Her term hasnt been without controversy.
After becoming the party chair, she claimed on "Face the Nation" that Republicans have a plan to end Medicare as we know it," and has had more than half her quotes reviewed by the nonpartisan Politifact fall in the range of half true to pants on fire."
Wasserman Schultz has drawn heat in the past for her frequent appearances on left-friendly MSNBC to discuss partisan party talking points, as well as for her frequent absences from Congress, in part due to the presidential campaign.
Also, an e-book released in August by Politico and Random House, Obamas Last Stand, featured interviews with current and former advisers to Obama that second-guessed the re-election effort and effectiveness of Wasserman Schultz.
At the Democratic National Convention in September, when she downplayed internal discord over controversial language regarding Jerusalem and the omission of the word God from the party platform, CNN's Anderson Cooper called her language "incredulous" and "alternative universe."
The Democratic National Committee members will vote in January to select the new party leader, with the position typically viewed as a hand-selected appointment by the president.
Reach Jim Turner at jturner@sunshinestatenews.com or at 772-215-9889.
