Chants of “We want Debbie” filled the Orlando offices of Organizing for America (OFA) as the rambunctious crowd welcomed Democratic National Committee Chair and Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz as she arrived to celebrate the opening of OFA’s new office off East Colonial drive in Orlando yesterday.
The Chairwoman stopped in to speak to over 300 supporters who packed the tight spaces that will house OFA, which will work to re-elect the 44th President of the United States Barack Obama.
Wasserman-Schultz was elected chair of the DNC back in May after being hand picked by President Obama. She is the first woman to be elected chair by the full body.
The Congresswoman is on a tour of the state as she visited the University of Florida Thursday morning. She spoke at a fundraiser in the Villages in the afternoon, headed to Orlando for the opening of the OFA offices and ended her night in St. Petersburg.
While in Orlando she spoke on the President’s record and the contrast between Mr. Obama and the Republican Presidential contenders.
She mentioned that under President Obama the private sector has created 2.4 million jobs and that the United States has seen 17 straight months of job growth. Wasserman-Schultz went on to talk about the varied triumphs Democrats have seen under his leadership as President, such as healthcare reform and the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t tell.
Chairwoman Schultz said that her goal is to never lose because she got outworked.
“We are going to commit, the Democratic Party, to never lose because we got outworked. I will never lose because I got outworked. We all need to make sure that we work hard so that we wake up the day after the election knowing that we did everything we could to send Barack Obama back to the White House,” said the Congresswoman.
But that task may be easier said that done. A recently released poll by Sachs/Mason-Dixon shows that 56 percent of surveyed Floridians disapprove of the job he’s doing as President with only 36 percent of independents approving of his performance.
Another poll conducted by the Pew Research Center shows that 79 percent of surveyed Americans disapprove of this country’s direction. Those have to be sobering numbers for a President who promised change and enjoyed 70 percent favorable ratings when he first entered the White House.
While the polls may pour cold water on any positive sentiment his administration may have about his re-election the number of folks to show up for the opening of the OFA offices should provide spark.
Temperatures were well over 80 degrees in the cramped space but people crowded into the office, the stairwell, and stood outside waiting to hear from the Chairwoman and to celebrate the start of the 2012 campaign season.
It may be an uphill battle for the President next year and he won’t have the army of folks he had in 2008. But with so many people willing to stand in their sweat soaked clothes to hear a word from the short but fiery DNC Chair, I think the future isn’t as bleak as some may think.
-JH
