You might've had some warm feelings toward the Democratic party after their relatively competent showing at the debate this week. Well, prepare to watch them squander that public goodwill on a stupid fight that's totally embarrassing. Rather than behaving like calm, rational adults, a handful of Democratic Party leaders have been squabbling publicly, making angry accusations, engaging in petty revenge, and making flat-out false statements.

It's the same childish behavior we like to make fun of the Republicans for. The best part of the Republican clown-car candidates is watching them squabble, so it's a little alarming to see the Democrats do the same.

And of course, Florida's involved.

The origin of the conflict sounds reasonable enough: some party leaders want there to be more debates. Okay, fair enough: who doesn't like a good reality show? For now, the party has limited itself to six debates, and some of the not-in-a-million-years candidates have complained that they won't have sufficient opportunity to market themselves to voters.

That's where things get messy.

Last month, DNC vice chairs R.T. Rybak and Representative Tulsi Gabbard (Hawaii) started pressuing committee chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Florida) to hold more debates. Gabbard was particularly noisy about it, and even went on MSNBC to complain. For her trouble, she was disinvited from the first debate.

Gabbard was pissed at the disinvitation, and said that Wasserman Schultz was being unfair. Wasserman Schultz claims that Gabbard agreed not to attend, since her behavior was "distracting." This sounds like the same excuse that awful high school principals use for punishing girls who wear comfortable clothing.

But the real point of contention was when Gabbard and Rybak said that nobody consulted them about the debate schedule. Wasserman Schultz responded, and I'm paraphrasing here, "nuh uh."

"What she's saying is simply not true," she told CNN. "I spoke with her and a number of others."

"The fact is, there was no communication," Gabbard countered. "There was no consultation with the vice chairs and officers, of which I am one. So it’s unfortunate that she continues to say things that aren’t true.”

"This is a chair of the Democratic Party wrongly stating that she consulted with all of the party officers," Rybak told the NYT. "I was not consulted. I know that Tulsi Gabbard was not consulted. And this is becoming about much more than debates."

Not content to leave it there, he went on:

"Like many other people, I have kept my mouth shut, and have tried to make the situation work for months. It is becoming increasingly clear that the chair doesn’t have the political skills—or more likely, want to execute the skills—to make this party a big tent. I blame myself for trying to stuff it, and trying to make things work when it’s clear we have a problem."

This is escalating from "miffed quote in a newspaper" to "drunken Facebook status update."

And he kept going! "And that’s why I’m doing what I wanted not to do for a long time, which is go public with my serious questions of whether she can lead this party."

Rybak said he's not calling for her to resign—yet. But apparently Wasserman Schultz is running out of friends at the DNC. Another chair, Deb Kozikowski, accused her of "establishing a full-fledged dictatorship at the DNC."

If the Democrats were smart—like, Donald Trump smart—they could turn this ugly dust-up to their advantage by crafting a narrative that Debbie is a scary powerful woman, unafraid to speak the truth and demolish anyone who stands in her way, the Devil Wears Prada lady of politics.

But no. Instead we'll get some more hand-wringing and harrumphing, and the Democratic debates will continue to elicit snores, even when they're not even happening.