Chris Van Hollen for Democratic Caucus Chair

by: Matt Stoller

Thu Nov 06, 2008 at 00:55


It appears that Chris Van Hollen is putting himself up for caucus chair, taking the place of Rahm Emanuel should Rahm go to the White House and become White House Chief of Staff.  I would very much like to see Van Hollen ascend the leadership ladder in the House, for two reasons.

One, at the DCCC, he was able to run the organization effectively and work very well with all types of groups.  Operationally speaking, the committee basically did as well as it did in 2006, pushing into tougher districts and coming away with a respectable 20 seats or so (pending recounts, etc).  Unlike in 2006, though, Van Hollen's DCCC was able to meld seemlessly with a whole variety of groups.  There was no sniping at George Soros, Moveon, blogs, or liberals.  His organization just worked, and worked well, with fewer stompings in primaries and nasty machismo bullshit.

Two, Van Hollen is a leader who I think will be more progressive than most of us realize.  It's not just his policy positions, which are probably just borne of representing a liberal district, it's his instincts I respect.  During the Donna Edwards primary, Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer both endorsed Al Wynn.  Van Hollen, from the neighboring district, did not.  And in fact, many constituents in Wynn's district actually though that they were represented by Van Hollen, since the district lines had been recently redrawn, and they liked and respected him.  Now, when Van Hollen sat this one out, it was a clear signal that he wasn't just going to protect one of the worst members of Congress, even though the rest of the Democratic leadership did.

This matters.  Van Hollen refused to perpetuate business as usual, and we need more of that in the House.  At the same time, he's an extremely effective organizer and operator within the caucus, as shown by his DCCC work, and he's got a savvy political sense.

I hope that he gets it.
Matt Stoller :: Chris Van Hollen for Democratic Caucus Chair

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Chris Van Hollen for Democratic Caucus Chair | 14 comments
H--2B (0.00 / 0)
Looks like he is continually trying to get more guest worker Visas.  the H-2B is used for everything under the sun but is considered for "unskilled" workers.  Anybody believe there isn't  enough unskilled labor in the United States or enough teenagers and college students needing summer jobs?  

(This is a major agenda by the corporate cheap labor lobbyists, US Chamber of Commerce (and others))

NoSlaves.com  


The Economic Populist

Me too (4.00 / 3)
 
Van Hollen refused to perpetuate business as usual, and we need more of that in the House.  At the same time, he's an extremely effective organizer and operator within the caucus, as shown by his DCCC work, and he's got a savvy political sense.

I hope that he gets it.

This would be a great step forward for progressivism in the Democratic caucus. It may redeem givng Rahm Emanuel more power.

"Incrementalism isn't a different path to the same place, it could be a different path to a different place"
Stoller

Agreed (4.00 / 3)
Also, CVH is 49. A full 20 years younger then Pelosi, Clyburn and Hoyer. If Pelosi can stick around for another 10 years or so Hoyer and Clyburn will be too old and CVH would be Speaker. That would be fantastic news and I think he'd be one of the best and more progressive speakers we've seen.

The only other person being mentioned who I hope wins something is Becerra. Hopefully he'll run for Vice Chair and Larson will lose the race for Chair to Van Hollan. I'd rather he was DCCC Chair but DWS probably has that locked up.

Also the Waxman/Dingell fight is HUGE and has huge implications for climate change and energy legislation. Waxman is one of the best progressives in Congress on climate change and energy while Dingell is one of the worst. I do wish he could still have a big say in healthcare reform but I'm really hoping Waxman beats him as he's great on healthcare as well.

Also looking at who'd succeed Waxman at Oversight Chair. Corrupt Dems Ed Towns and Paul Kanjorski are next in line but I can't imagine either of them getting the post. Dennis K is actually pretty high ranking on the committee. I'm hoping for John Tierney. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Also it will be interesting to see what happens with the Senate chairs. Could be a lot of moving around and a lot of favorable shifts for progressives including potentially Russ Feingold as Chair of the Foreign Relations Committee (If Kerry becomes SoS and Dodd stays where he is)

And the race for the future of the Republican party is also interesting. Pretty much every leadership post is being contested heavily with mass chaos. Huck is hitting Iowa Nov 20th to "promote his new book" and Jindal will be headlining a fundie fundraiser two days later. And the GOP Chair race is heating up.

Lots of fun stuff to keep track of.  

John McCain: Beacuse lobbyists should have more power

What do you mean... (0.00 / 0)
succeed Waxman???  He ain't leavin' anytime soon, you hear??

(BruinKid, proud Waxman voter here at UCLA)

[ Parent ]
As (4.00 / 1)
Chair of the Oversight Committee, seeing as he's running for Energy and can't hold two chairmanships at the same time.

John McCain: Beacuse lobbyists should have more power
[ Parent ]
Agreed about CVH (4.00 / 1)
...and agreed about Dingell. Would love to see a front pager do a writeup on the perfidy of John Dingell who ranks right up there with Richard Pombo as a malign presence.

The fight for a whole huge block of the energy and environmental agenda won't go far if Dingell remains a boulder in the Congressional road.

[ Parent ]
Is Dingell ... (4.00 / 1)
that bad overall? ... or is it his Detroit boosting that causes the problems(meaning getting stuff done on the enviroment)
[ Parent ]
He's (4.00 / 1)
terrible on energy. I don't know much beyond that but he's really, really awful on energy.

John McCain: Beacuse lobbyists should have more power
[ Parent ]
But that really ties in ... (0.00 / 0)
to the whole Detroit problem
[ Parent ]
I worked with Van Hollen in Maryland (4.00 / 2)
and he was one of the most decent and principled democrats in the state house. Plus he was able to beat a Kennedy--akin to beating a Clinton. I hope he gets it too.
What would that do for the DCCC? .. (0.00 / 0)
We can't have DWS in the DCCC ... she'd be a disaster .. especially since she wants to protect the Republican clowns in South Florida
He said (0.00 / 0)
he would not seek a second term for the DCCC.

DWS seems the most likely choice, sadly.  

John McCain: Beacuse lobbyists should have more power

[ Parent ]
The Rules (4.00 / 1)
Van Hollen would be great (or at least substantially better than likely alternatives), and there is a strong case to be made that he earned it. He has also done a great job at bridging the gap between the more progressive / liberal wings of the party and the more conservative wings.  I have difficulty accepting that this is something that will be decided purely on the inside, without any popular or activist input - especially when an entirely non-ideological case can be made for it.  There are so many decisions that will be made in the coming weeks and months- like replacements for Senators moving into the executive branch and congressional leadership and committee placements.  The corporatist wing of the party has been mobilizing behind the scenes and throughout the MSM since before election day.  Obviously, these sorts of things are traditionally inside baseball decisions- but do they have to be?

Support a Pennsylvania Progressive for Governor - Joe Hoeffel
Sign me up (0.00 / 0)
Van Hollen is a master communicator, sharp as a whip and knows how to work with people, politicians and organizations. Hopefully, Dems will recognize his immense value and promote him to Caucus Chair.
Chris Van Hollen for Democratic Caucus Chair | 14 comments
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