I suppose the best way to begin this screed is to thank everyone here. It is because of us, and other such activism-minded denizens of the blogosphere, that the formerly hesitant Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-20) reached out to the Democratic challengers in districts 18, 21, and 25– Joel Garcia, Raul Martinez, and Annette Taddeo, respectively– by inviting them to a DCCC fundraiser in Aventura, FL, last night. Apparently, Wasserman Schultz actively introduced the challengers to major donors and Democratic party bigwigs. For someone who quite recently recused herself from campaigning in these races, this is big news. And there's no way she would've done it without the fighting spirit of the blogosphere, so, again, thanks and congratulations all around!
With that being said . . . inviting Garcia, Martinez, and Taddeo to one fundraiser isn't enough, especially when that fundraiser is for candidates in other parts of the state and the country, as this one was. If Wasserman Schultz truly wants to maintain her standing as a rising star in the party, in addition to obliterating the remnants of this controversy completely, she needs to actively campaign with all three challengers, appearing with them at campaign stops and, most importantly, hosting a fundraiser for them, not just introducing them at someone else's. I think there's a good chance she'll follow through with all that . . . IF we keep an eye on her and hold her to it. So . . . keep up the good work, folks. Our fighting spirit pays off!
On a humorous note: if we keep this up, Wasserman Schultz will get a lot of her repentance out of the way long before Yom Kippur– we got her to start the atonement process just after Purim!
You had to insert a Jew reference in there, didn’t you?
Haha whatever.
… the aide on the phone seemed very grateful that I thanked her (I think a bit of positive reinforcement is healthy and will encourage her a bit in concert with all the heat and flak she’s been taking lately) for finally taking the earth-shatteringly shocking move of actually being seen with fellow Democratic candidates that not only… gasp… aren’t incumbents… but also (OMG!!) are running against hardline anti-Cuban Republican extremists, even if one of them is running looking to put her BFF from the other side of the aisle out of a job (forget that IR-L once hinted that she wouldn’t mind if [and actually hoped that] Castro was assassinated).
The aide was very gracious. She asked me if I’d seen some article (probably in some “mainstream” local South Florida newspaper), and I told her no, and then vaguely mentioned that I heard about the latest news from some site… then she asked me if I was talking about “that fundraiser from last night”, and I said yes. She said “cool” and I wished her a good-day and we said good-bye.
I think it’s probably time to let up on this story, though. She has given ground. By continuing to focus on it, I am concerned that we are drawing attention to the fact that Reps. Wasserman Schultz and Meek don’t support Garcia, Martinez, and Taddeo. It seems to me that this undercuts their campaigns.
would probably be a good thing, even though he’s gone now but his brother’s still running the show down there.
One question I have about these three Democratic candidates running. How are they going to penetrate the vast bloc of Cuban American support that the three Republican incumbents have managed to exploit in winning election after election and make inroads? Anyone who has their eyes and ears on the ground would be helpful in providing some information regarding this matter.
She’s implicitly accepted that she made a mistake and has fixed it. No need to rub her nose in it.
That said, she should do a fundraiser for them, both to support their campaigns and to show that she’s willing to listen.