Debbie Wasserman Schultz - Chair of The Democratic National Committee

Chair of The Democratic National Committee

On April 5, 2011, Vice President Joe Biden announced that she was President Barack Obama's choice to succeed Tim Kaine as the 52nd Chair of the Democratic National Committee. Once confirmed by the Democratic National Committee, she became the third female DNC chief in history and the first in over 15 years. Until she assumed office, current DNC Vice-Chair Donna Brazile served as the interim Chair of the Democratic National Committee. Wasserman Shultz was confirmed at the meeting of the DNC held on May 4, 2011, in Washington, DC.

Wasserman Schultz got off to a controversial start as DNC Chair. During an appearance on Face the Nation, Wasserman Schultz said, "The Republicans have a plan to end Medicare as we know it. What they would do is they would take the people who are younger than 55 years old today and tell them, 'You know what? You're on your own. Go and find private health insurance in the health-care insurance market. We're going to throw you to the wolves and allow insurance companies to deny you coverage and drop you for pre-existing conditions. We're going to give you X amount of dollars and you figure it out'". Four non-partisan fact-checkers called her claim false. She then came under criticism for her comments on Washington Watch with Roland Martin, in which she said, "You have the Republicans, who want to literally drag us all the way back to Jim Crow laws and literally—and very transparently—block access to the polls to voters who are more likely to vote for Democratic candidates than Republican candidates". The next day, she stated that "Jim Crow was the wrong analogy to use."

Congresswoman Shultz has also been criticized for what has been termed her "frequent absences" from Congress. In 2011 she missed 62 votes of Congress, placing her 45th of 535 in missing Congressional votes. The bulk of those who missed votes did so due to family circumstances, illness, or the Presidential campaign. She has been criticized further for her frequent appearances on MSNBC. Particularly, Dylan Ratigan accused her of coming on his show and just "doing talking points". Many of Obama’s advisers have questioned the move to select Wasserman Schultz as his DNC chairwoman, who they feel comes across as too partisan on television. An internal focus study of the popularity of top Obama campaign surrogates ranked Wasserman Schultz at the bottom.