Will liberals finally jump the Rhee ship?

Arne Duncan stumps for Fenty/Rhee in D.C.

This must be embarrassing for liberal Democrats who lauded Michelle Rhee when she was D.C.'s schools chief or who were moved by her anti-public-school demagogy in the film, Waiting For Superman. Now Rhee has planted herself squarely in the camp of the extreme right-wing where she has become a T-Party favorite and the darling of ultra-conservatives like the DeVos family. She recently joined the team of Florida's right-wing governor, Rick Scott, as a high-paid consultant. 

On Tuesday, Rhee keynoted the DeVos-sponsored national school voucher summit. Rhee told the audience of school voucher supporters,  “we’ve got a powerful influencer like the unions … if you don’t have an organized, national interest group like the teachers union that’s advocating on behalf of kids, then you end up with a lopsided policy landscape.”

According to the American Independent:

"The event was orchestrated by the American Federation for Children, a well-funded advocacy group headed by Betsy DeVos, former chair of the Michigan Republican Party. She is married to former Republican candidate for Michigan Gov. Dick DeVos, son of famed billionaire Richard DeVos, who made his fortune through the success of household appliance and manufacturing giant Amway."

While it was the giant power philanthropists like Gates, Broad and Walton who paved her way to national prominence as a corporate school reformer, it was Arne Duncan who embraced her teacher-bashing strategies in D.C. where he openly campaigned for Rhee's patron at the time, Mayor Fenty. 

Buyer's remorse, anyone?