Some women have stepped up to defend Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, whose ongoing fitness to serve as Democratic National Committee chairwoman came under fire last week as media dissected her rankling of her own party.
On ABC's "This Week" Sunday, GOP strategist Ana Navarro floated (to panel groans) the notion that Democrats were waging the same war on women that they have decried by calling out Wasserman Schultz, of South Florida, as divisive and ambitious,
National Review reported.
"You want to talk about war on women, why don't we talk about the war that Democrats waged this week against the woman who heads the DNC?" Navarro said, earning eye rolls from fellow panelists. "You saw all sorts of gossip and you saw all sorts of innuendo against Debbie Wasserman Schultz."
Navarro added: "If a Republican had gone out and talked about how somebody wanted to spend all this money on clothes and say all the gossipy things they said about Debbie Wasserman Schultz — with the White House's fingerprints all over it — you all would be screaming bloody murder."
On CNN's "State of the Union" show, the DNC chair earned a measured defense from one of her party's female power-players, Donna Brazile,
Politico reported, as discussion of the publication's article from last week about Wasserman Schultz took center stage Sunday morning.
"There's nothing wrong with being ambitious," said Brazile. "What I didn't like about the [Politico] article, of course, was not just the timing but the nature of the attack. The personal attacks. Look, I'm vice chair of the party, and I turn the gavel over to Debbie Wasserman Schultz, she's done a phenomenal job of reducing the deficit. We have no deficit now."
Brazile continued, seeking to tamp down the criticism. "Yes, there will be tensions, but you know, at the end of the day, Debbie's job is to help Democrats."
Wasserman Schultz has sparked party criticism over allegedly asking the DNC to pay for her wardrobe.
According to Politico, she did it in 2012 for the Democratic National Convention, during Obama's second inauguration in 2013 and then again for the 2013 White House Correspondents Association annual dinner.
Wasserman Schultz has denied those claims as untrue. However some in her party have suggested she is more focused on herself at a time when her leadership is badly needed as difficult midterm elections loom for Democrats. She also drew ire across the aisle by her comparisons of tea party supporters to domestic abusers,
The Washington Times noted of her recent backlash that has seen Democratic support for her wane.
Whatever happens to her amid her recent trouble, her post-DNC career is likely be bring her more success, The Washington Post noted in a story examining the tenure and trajectory of past party leaders.
"The good news for Wasserman Schultz … " noted
the Post, "is that party chairpersons have a long history of going on to better things."
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