Rep. Tulsi Gabbard: The Democrat that Republicans love and the DNC can’t control

by Amber Phillips, The Washington Post, October 15, 2015

All this week, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) has been in a nasty back and forth with the Democratic National Committee where she serves as vice chairwoman about whether its chairwoman, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), suggested Gabbard shouldn't go to Tuesday's Las Vegas debate. The she-said, she-said came shortly after Gabbard suggested on MSNBC that the DNC should host more than the current six debates (many have accused the DNC of holding fewer debates to help Hillary Clinton). DNC officials told the the New York Times, which broke the story, that Gabbard's debate drama would have been a "distraction" from the candidates on stage.

But if you thought this was an isolated incident, you haven't been paying attention to Tulsi Gabbard. In fact, this week's drama has plenty to do with the party's young, outspoken star's demonstrated willingness to speak out in ways her party would rather she not. Gabbard is a wildcard who has given Democrats as many headaches in her nearly three years in Congress as she has blessings....

Back home in her Democratic-heavy, rural Oahu district, Gabbard is clearly in command of her political future. She won re-election to a second term with close to 79 percent of the vote....

So far, Gabbard is choosing her own route, and it's not one Democrats hoping to groom her for leadership would have her take. Especially with regard to foreign policy, Gabbard often sounds more like a hawkish Republican than a potential future Democratic leader. She has blasted President Obama for failing to talk about Islamic extremism. And she recently tweeted this criticism of the president's perceived weakness and hypocrisy in Syria:

Needless to say, for Democrats it's awkward to have one of their most visible stars and a top DNC official saying things like this. In that sense, Gabbard is really a singular figure in her party.

What's more, Gabbard has been glorified in the conservative media. Her criticism of Obama's failure to cite "Islamic extremism" earned her appearances on Fox News, and in April, the conservative National Review wrote a glowing profile about the "beautiful, tough young" Democrat "who's challenging Obama's foreign policy"....

Read ... The Washington Post

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