Rewarding bad behavior

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Weston) is a loyal, hard-working Democrat who co-chaired the "Red to Blue" effort for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) this past year ... well, she's loyal and hard-working so long as you don't ask her to campaign against her Republican friends. In that case, she suddenly comes up with excuses on why she can't help Democratic candidates -- even though that's her job, and even though she helped Democratic candidates in many other districts, including right here in Florida.

So what are the consequences for failing to do your job in the DCCC? Evidently, you get promoted:

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) will again help run the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), focusing this cycle on House Democrats facing tough reelection battles.

DCCC Chairman Chris Van Hollen (Md.) on Monday named Wasserman Schultz the vice chairwoman for incumbent retention.

"It is so important that we assist our incumbent Members with the money, messaging and outreach they will need to get reelected in the 2010 election cycle," she said in a statement.

Okay, look: I like Rep. Wasserman Schultz. I think she's a good representative of her district and a good member of Congress. But I think when push comes to shove, she's clearly demonstrated that she is not able to set aside personal feelings in order to do her job. And that, to me, indicates that far from being promoted, she probably shouldn't have any meaningful role in the DCCC whatsoever.

Obviously Rep. Van Hollen feels differently. And I hope that for the sake of the incumbents she supposedly will be assisting in the next election cycle, Rep. Wasserman Schultz doesn't have any Republican friends challenging them for their seats.