My Lunch With Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz

On Wednesday I met Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz at Jaxson's Ice Cream Parlor on U.S. 1 in Dania Beach for a wide-ranging discussion -- including my paranoid delusions about the sinister deal-cutting that must take place when voters aren't watching.

The congresswoman insists that she has never thrown footwear at a political nemesis, not even FBI Director Robert Mueller, who she excoriated last April from her place on the the House Judiciary Committee. The temptation hasn't struck, she says, since the Nineties when she was toiling in the GOP-dominated Florida legislature. We talked about the fallout from the alleged fraud by Palm Beach financial wizard Bernie Madoff. She mentions having spoken to superintendents Alberto Carvalho and Jim Notter, of Miami-Dade and Broward School Districts, respectively, about their dire financial straits. She casually destroys my dream for a TARP-style bailout of the journalism industry.

At one point, the congresswoman is ambushed by a towering Thai chicken salad.

But before all that, I had to address an elephant in the room. As loyal readers know, I was the first to launch the unfounded rumor that the seat of Sen. Mel Martinez (R-FL) is for sale, Blagojevich-style. Since the Democrat from Weston has been mentioned as a potential candidate for that seat, I had to ask her about it, point blank.

Later, addressing her rumored interest in Martinez's allegedly not-for-sale U.S. Senate seat, Wasserman Schultz would say only "I'm happy in the House of Representatives." And she basically says she will vote for the senatorial candidate who is least like Jeb Bush, who has screwed up Florida enough, thank you.

-- Thomas Francis