James Call

Democrat Capitol Reporter

Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz Thursday tried to deflect questions concerning how she has structured the Democratic Presidential primary debates. Bernie Sanders’ supporters complain that she tilted the playing field in favor of Hillary Clinton by holding down the number of televised events.

Wasserman Schultz said such complaints come with being chair. She noted eight years ago supporters of both Clinton and President Barack Obama said the same thing about then-DNC chair Howard Dean.

“It’s just the way it is. All I can do is focus on getting our party ready to support our eventual nominee and that is what I’m doing,” said Wasserman Shultz, in Tallahassee raising money for the Democratic Party and her reelection campaign to Congress.

Sanders’ supporters say Wasserman Schultz has tried to minimize Sanders’ exposure by scheduling four debates among presidential candidates while Republicans have held six. When pressed by a second reporter to respond to the criticism she referred to her first response. When pressed further she suggested that Sanders’ supporters are paranoid.

“These are people that are expressing the normal understandable frustration over what they think is a sinister thing around every corner,” said Wasserman Schultz. “I have to block those things out and focus on doing my job.”

When asked about the specific allegation — employing a strategy to minimize Sanders’ exposure — she ended the conversation.

Sanders’ Big Bend supporters disagreed with Wasserman Schultz’s characterization of them seeing something “sinister” while holding steadfast to their criticism of her leadership.

“It’s hard to understand why there are so few debates and why they’re scheduled on days that almost guarantee low viewership,” said Brian Lupiani, coordinator of Big Bend for Bernie. “The Republican race has practically had a monopoly on publicity, while the Democratic response has been MIA.”

PolitiFact, which fact checks politicians’ statements, has rated as false Wasserman Schultz's statements that the debate schedule works to “maximize the opportunity for voters to see our candidates.”

PolitiFact called the statement disingenuous. It checked the ratings and calculated that the Democratic debates attracted a cumulative viewership of 42.5 million, while a cumulative 103.7 million viewers watched the GOP debates.

A former aide to Massachusetts Sen. Paul Tsongas has filed to run against Wasserman Schultz in the Democratic primary for Florida’s 23rd congressional district. Tim Canova is a lawyer who has advised Sanders, worked with Sen. Rand Paul and Congressman Alan Grayson and is the six-term’s congresswoman’s first ever primary challenger.

He recently told The Intercept, a web-based publication of Pulitzer Prize winner Glenn Greenwald, that Wasserman Schultz is “the quintessential corporate machine politician” — the same criticism many Sanders’ supporters make of Hillary Clinton.

Contact reporter James Call at jcall@tallahassee.com and follow on Twitter @CallTallahassee.

SLOW ‘BERN’

Local fans of Bernie Sanders may have to wait a while to see their man in person. The campaign announced last week that Sanders’ “Feel the Bern” Historically Black Colleges and Universities tour would include a stop at FAMU. But local campaign reps say no date has yet been set and the rally may not happen until after the Iowa caucuses on Feb. 1 or the New Hampshire primary on Feb. 9.