Md.'s Van Hollen Goes National

Lawmaker Puts Skills to Work for Other Democrats

ALBUQUERQUE -- Ever since he ousted a popular Republican congresswoman in 2002, Rep. Chris Van Hollen has enjoyed a reputation as a giant-slayer. Now the Montgomery County legislator is wielding his grass-roots organizing experience as head of the Democrats' House campaigns nationwide, hoping to add to his party's majority in Congress.

The genial, boyish-looking lawmaker has a tough act to follow. His predecessor, Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), a bare-knuckled former Clinton administration official, led the party's successful effort to win back the House in 2006 after a dozen years of GOP control.

Parties typically lose seats two years after enjoying such a "wave" election, but Van Hollen hopes to buck that precedent by tapping discontent with the Bush administration, including policies that Democrats say contributed to the current economic crisis. Democrats, he predicted, will benefit from the fact that voters "are focused like a laser beam" on the economy.

"Most people thought we'd have to circle the wagons to just protect the gains we made," Van Hollen said, as he cruised through Albuquerque on a recent 17-hour day of campaigning. "Our overall goal is to break that historical pattern" of giving back gains, he said.

Van Hollen, 49, has won plaudits for his work so far. Democrats have grabbed three House seats in special elections this year, and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, or DCCC, has a 4-to-1 fundraising advantage over its Republican counterpart.

"He's raising a lot of money, recruiting good candidates. They've got a good team over there," said Stuart Rothenberg, an independent analyst with the Rothenberg Political Report. He predicts that Democrats will pick up 10 to 20 House seats Nov. 4.

Despite such assessments, Van Hollen has concerns about the campaign. He worries that conservative groups will pour money into races. He frets about preserving the 33 seats the Democrats picked up in 2006 and in special elections, many in Republican-leaning areas. To go after more seats, he is dedicating millions of dollars to the kinds of canvassing and other ground techniques he honed in Montgomery County.

"We are going into redder territory," he said. "There's no doubt about it."

On his recent day in Albuquerque, Van Hollen was a blur in a Jos. A. Bank suit, giving seven interviews, speaking at a Michelle Obama rally, visiting a wealthy lawyer and a backyard cocktail party to pitch for funds, stopping by a phone bank and attending events at a hospital and bar.

Van Hollen was campaigning with Martin Heinrich, 36, a former Albuquerque City Council member. As their sport-utility vehicle cruised through the flat city ringed by scrub-flecked mountains, he quizzed Heinrich about polls, ads and grass-roots efforts.

"One of the things we think is critical in this race and others is that direct door-to-door," the Maryland lawmaker said.

Van Hollen relied on an army of liberal supporters to turn out voters in his 2002 race. He squeaked past a better-funded rival, Kennedy relative Mark Shriver, in a primary and went on to defeat longtime representative Constance A. Morella (R).