This could end up being Debbie Wasserman Schultz's worst year ever. First, she was publicly forced out of her job as chair of the Democratic National Committee as the fall guy for the rigging of the nomination, and the casual racism, bigotry, and contempt for various constituencies revealed in the DNC Wikileaks hack. Face it: whatever her faults, she was just the tool of Hillary Clinton, and doing her duty as a loyal political retainer. No wonder she had to be metaphorically dragged kicking and screaming off the stage, losing her role as chair of the convention, then her speaking slot, and finally banished entirely after being energetically booed by her own state's delegation the morning before the convention's kickoff.

Photo via The Hill

Now, as Lisa Hagen reports for The Hill:

The Florida Democrat is facing the toughest political race of her life after ending her controversial tenure as leader of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). Her House seat is on the line in a primary race against well-funded challenger Tim Canova, and the battle is heating up amid the fallout from her resignation following the leak of hacked emails that showed DNC officials plotting to undermine Sen. Bernie Sanders's (I-Vt.) presidential campaign in the Democratic primary. Some think the race has changed after the former chairwoman’s tough week. “I think this has really shifted the race,” said Kathryn DePalo, a political science professor at Florida International University. “I think she’s going to have a tough fight. I think she’s probably going to win, but it’ll be close.” She added that a Canova victory would not be a surprise. “I think that’s how devastating these email leaks have been,” DePalo said.

Debbie might want to call up Eric Cantor, former number-two Republican in the House, as majority leader, about handling a primary challenger playing to the base. He’ll take her call because he’s a lobbyist now. Her opponent is very energetic and riding a wave of dissatisfsction with the party establshment, just like Dave Brat, who defeated Cantor.

He’s already raised an eye-popping $2.3 million since entering the race in January, and his alignment with Sanders has won him attention and an endorsement from the senator himself. Canova said he’s been nonstop campaigning for the past eight months as he criss-crosses the district to meet as many constituents as possible. The DNC leak exudes her “bad judgment” and has rallied more people to his campaign, he said. “We’re seeing a lot of energy come our way,” Canova told The Hill. “We built a very good field operation to ride the wave that’s come in now.”

For selfish reasons – she’s great copy, and often helps conservatives unintentionally – I’d hate to see Debbie return to private life. But how can I root against her opponent?