SPIRITED CHOICE – AT 8:53 A.M. ET:  As you know, I don't think Obama is much of a president, but his political operation has always been first class.  It's gotten even better with Chicago's Bill Daley as White House chief of staff.  Now Obama – and I suspect that this was driven by Daley – has made a spirited choice to head the Democratic National Committee.  From The Politico:

President Barack Obama has chosen Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz as the incoming chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, the party announced late Tuesday.

Wasserman Schultz, 44, was chosen for her strength as a fundraiser and as a television messenger and for her clout in the crucial swing state of Florida, the sources said.

She will succeed Tim Kaine, who announced earlier Tuesday that he will run for U.S. Senate from Virginia.

The committee announced the choice in an email to members from Vice President Joe Biden.

“In selecting Debbie to lead our party, President Obama noted her tenacity, her strength, her fighting spirit and her ability to overcome adversity,” Biden wrote.

COMMENT:  By "her ability to overcome adversity," Biden was alluding to the fact that she's a breast cancer survivor.

Wasserman Schultz is a bigmouth, a transplanted New Yorker who now represents a congressional district in Florida, and an extremely effective debater and political operator.  She's photogenic and does very well on television.  Most important, she's a party sparkplug who understands that boredom doesn't win elections.  She is going to be, for our side, a very tough competitor.

I wish Republicans can learn the "spirit" lesson.  Reagan had a fighting spirit and personality that lit up the party.  There are some young, vigorous Republicans like Paul Ryan, Marco Rubio and Eric Cantor who follow in that tradition.  But the current presidential field feels like the old presidential field, and the one before that.  I urge again that Republicans look to their new, dynamic generation for 2012.  Obama the weak president will morph into Obama the 2008 campaigner, with the press at its back.  Only a great candidate can fight back effectively.  The selection of Wasserman Schultz is a sign that the Dems are back in political style.

April 6, 2011