CHRIS VAN HOLLEN OFF TO A GOOD START AT THE DCCC

The DCCC-- under a smart and aggressive new chairman, Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), who won his seat from a Republican the old fashioned way (by beating the incumbent)-- finally gets Howard Dean's 50 state strategy. Van Hollen's odious predecessor, Rahm Emanuel (D-Daley Machine) nearly cost the Democrats their victory in the House with his old line, ineffective Inside the Beltway policies. Most of the candidates he backed lost and most of the Democrats who won were not backed by him, although Emanuel did manage to recruit and help elect two Republicans who, for the purpose of the election, called themselves Democrats, Heath Shuler (NC) and Tim Mahoney (FL).

The DCCC under Van Hollen is already looking much more Democratic and much more aggressive. Where Emanuel used discredited Inside-the-Beltway hack consultants to focus on a tiny number of races-- many of which turned out to be astronomically expensive races that Republicans won-- the new DCCC is casting a broader-- and smarter-- net. According to today's Roll Call Van Hollen is looking closely at over 2 dozen Republican-held seats that might be open seats by November '08-- open either due to retirements or indictments. "Given the GOP’s new minority status in the House, Democratic strategists think some veteran Republicans will head into retirement while some younger Members will opt to run for other offices. Democrats also believe that ethics scrapes could force a handful of GOP incumbents from office."

This is the kind of talk grassroots Democrats like hearing from the Washington-based party organizations: "Even though many of the 27 districts in question are notable for their Republican tilt, House Democratic strategists, emboldened by wins in the previous cycle in Republican territory such as Kansas and close calls in GOP bastions such as Wyoming, believe they can put many open seats in play."

Among the seats Van Hollen is looking at are some that were in play last year, like New Mexico's 1st CD, where Heather Wilson only managed an 879-vote win over Patty Madrid, but also some that were not strongly contested in 2006. He told me a week ago that he is very interested in watching the southern California seats that have gone unchallenged despite the fact that the incumbents are the focus of federal corruption investigations. Jerry Lewis and Gary Miller come immediately to mind. But, of course retirees' seats are always a good bet and this year looks like it could be the last in the House for Delaware's Mike Castle, who suffered a stroke last year and is one of the last of a nearly extinct brand of Republicans in the Northeast.

Other seats being looked at are held by Rick Renzi and Barbara Cubin, who nearly lost their Arizona and Wyoming seats last year, Elton Gallegly, who has already declared he will not run again in 2008, and Ralph Regula.


Meanwhile, the raving right-wing maniac the Republicans named to head their committee, Tom Cole, has declared that he's doing something that we're confident that Van Hollen will also do. The NRCC will refrain from taking sides in primaries in this cycle. It was the constant battering and backbiting from Emanuel and Hoyer on behalf of Republican-lite, so-called "moderates" that demoralized so many progressives and anti-war candidates and caused so much antipathy towards the DCCC from the base last year.

As crazy as he is on most things-- with one of the most radical and extremist voting records in the entire Congress-- Cole has definitely got this one right. He said that he "will refrain from doling out personal endorsements and campaign contributions in primaries while he is chairman. Cole’s decision partly is due to the wishes of House Republicans, who in a recent closed-door meeting were fairly unified-- and vocal-- in their desire that the NRCC avoid playing kingmaker in contested primaries. But Cole also attributed his policy to a belief that candidates who navigate a primary without help or anointing from Washington, D.C. insiders emerge battle-tested for the general election and in a better position to secure the support of grass-roots Republicans."

My gut tells me that that is exactly what Van Hollen is thinking too. Maybe he doesn't want to insult Emanuel by shouting it from the roof but, remember, Tom Reynolds (Emanuel's counterpart at the NRCC) was doing the same crap. And like Emanuel, Reynolds didn't fair that well. Aside from pissing off a lot of people many of his endorsed candidates-- like Steve Huffman in AZ-- lost anyway, and then left the wingnut who did win the primary (a loon named Randy Graf) looking even more crazy and extremist than he already was. He was beaten by Gabby Giffords who is likely to hold that Tucson seat for many years.


INSTANT UPDATE: BRANDON HALL- WESTERN REGIONAL DIRECTOR

Today was Brandon Hall's first day at the DCCC as Western Regional Director. This guy is smart and a real fighter. I called to congratulate him and all he wanted to do was talk about taking on Ken Calvert and Jerry Lewis, Dave Dreier, Buck McKeon, John Doolittle, Elton Galleghy and Gary Miller. What a dynamo! If Van Hollen hires a whole staff of people like Brandon Hall the DCCC will wind up as useful and productive as the grassroots has always dreamed it would be!