Debbie Wasserman Schultz did the right thing, the only thing she could have done, by resigning her post as head of the Democratic National Committee.
I just wish she would have gone a little further and resigned immediately instead of waiting until the end of the convention.
With the release of emails showing DNC staffers favored Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders _ the DNC should be neutral about candidates _ the congresswoman from Florida had to go.
Whether she did anything wrong _ and the emails seem to show more snarkiness and entitlement and arrogance more than anything _ Wasserman Schultz is the DNC's top person. In a lot of ways, she became the face of the Democratic Party.
As such, she shouldn't be a distraction at the Democratic Convention. The attention should be on Hillary Clinton.
But all the TV talk shows on Sunday and Monday were dominated by the email issue (as a side issue, you wonder why people don't use the phone more often rather than putting sensitive comments into emails).
Had Wasserman Schultz resigned immediately, the story might have switched back to Clinton and the convention. Now, Wasserman Schultz will be a big part of the story all week.
She has been a loyal soldier for Democrats, working tirelessly for the party and doing good work. She became the face of the Democratic party after President Barack Obama. And she has done good things for her district, although she faces her first ever primary challenger this year in Tim Canova. Sanders has supported Canova.
There figures to be demonstrations and booing and lots of distractions this week that the Democrats wanted to avoid. Even if staffers under Wasserman Schultz were responsible for much of the problem, she is the lightning rod who will get the attention. She should have resigned fully before becoming a bigger distraction.
ABOUT THE WRITER
Gary Stein is a columnist for the Sun Sentinel. Readers may email him at gstein@Sun-Sentinel.com.
