Calm, Cool, and Collecting
The Dems' new Congressional Campaign Committee chief has big shoes to fill
But life with Republican Majority Leader Tom DeLay at the helm wasn't exactly a thrill. "It's one thing to know intellectually what it's like to be in the minority," he says. "It's another thing to live it every day." He pushed his mostly liberal views hard and got nowhere. Being in the minority was "a major motivator," he says, "towards working to try to change things."
So he teamed up with Emanuel-who had earned the nickname "Rahmbo" as a tough-talking aide to President Clinton-on Democratic strategy and later at the DCCC, where Van Hollen became a top lieutenant. The contrasts are obvious. "Rahm's weapon of choice may be brass knuckles," says John Lapp, a former top DCCC staffer. "Van Hollen," true to his upbringing, "is more diplomacy and negotiation." Sure, jokes Van Hollen: "My four-letter-word vocabulary expanded dramatically working with Rahm." But underestimating Van Hollen's punch, says a top aide, is a mistake: "He's accustomed to being in the trenches."
Now in charge, Van Hollen is quickly adding his mark. He has brought almost all of the opposition research (which can cost up to $25,000 per district) in house and nearly doubled the size of the communications staff to fire salvos earlier and defend against Republican charges more quickly. In addition, he's planning to double the effort on turning out Democratic voters in states (e.g., Indiana) and districts that usually vote Republican, especially in a presidential year when the eventual nominee is unlikely to spend precious dollars there.
Van Hollen is also focusing on getting the 29 most vulnerable Democratic incumbents geared up for re-election and on recruiting new congressional challengers-31 have committed so far. "We never really stopped after the election," says freshman Rep. John Yarmuth of Kentucky, one of the 29, who are each expected to raise at least $600,000 by July. States like Ohio will continue to be battlegrounds, but Van Hollen is looking to take the fight elsewhere: In Michigan, Democratic Party Chairman Mark Brewer says, "there were no targeted races" last year and no communication with Washington. Now he talks with Van Hollen's staff weekly about two seats they hope to target.
Money. And Van Hollen is raising funds at a feverish pace as well. He has pulled in $19 million since January, which is $7 million more than this time last cycle and $3 million more than his GOP counterparts. His goal is to personally raise $10 million this congressional cycle: The committee, with a big assist expected from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, hopes to have more than $150 million for the election. At one February dinner for six Democratic congressmen and 30 guests, Tony Podesta, a longtime Democratic lobbyist in Washington, D.C., netted more than $300,000 for Van Hollen's crew. The pitch to Democratic donors spread thin in a presidential year is blunt: "A dollar to a presidential primary campaign," Van Hollen says, "is a dollar that goes into a Democratic civil war"; a dollar to DCCC helps retain, maybe build, the majority.
The core of the DCCC strategy will be holding President Bush accountable, continuing to attack Republicans for a "culture of corruption" and highlighting Democratic legislation in Congress. None of the Dems' priority legislation has been signed into law yet, but Van Hollen argues it doesn't matter. The most important point, he argues, is "we need to be able to demonstrate that we've done everything within our power to follow through." That may be a tough sell. But Chris Van Hollen is doing his part. No doubt about that.
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