MSNBC "Decision '08" - Transcript

Interview

MR. TODD: Besides winning the White House, the Democrats are also hoping to have a big governing majority in the House.

Joining me now is Maryland Congressman Chris Van Hollen. He's chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, what we like to call the D-triple-C, whatever that means for the rest of the real world out there.

But let's start with that. Look, you guys picked up 30 seats. You were basically the number two to Rahm Emanuel --

REP. VAN HOLLEN: Right.

MR. TODD: -- two years ago. You took over. The goal is what, in your mind? Come on, drive expectations down low. What is the real goal in your mind?

REP. VAN HOLLEN: Well, as you know, our challenge is to beat the historical pattern. Typically, after you have a big-wave election like we had in 2006 -- Democrats picked up 30 seats -- the wave typically goes out and you lose seats the following election. So we have to break that historical pattern.

MR. TODD: The wave hasn't moved out. You guys won three special elections -- unheard of.

REP. VAN HOLLEN: That's exactly right. We picked up not just three regular special elections. I mean, these were in tough, tough territory -- Mississippi, Louisiana, the former speaker of the House's seat and Republican speaker. So, look, we have lots of opportunities out there.

From our perspective, the big story is that we remain on offense. We didn't just circle the wagons after picking up 30 seats. We said we're going to be aggressive. We're going to recruit great candidates. Now we've got about 50 seats that are in play on offense, meaning that we're going after Republican open seats and Republican incumbents, because Barack Obama is going to need a strong working majority in Congress if we're going to pass an agenda of change.

MR. TODD: What is a governing majority? Nancy Pelosi comes to you and says, you know, "At this 230-odd Democrats I have, you know, I lose too many on this vote; I lose too many on that when I try to do this. I need this number." What does she tell you? What's a governing majority?

REP. VAN HOLLEN: There's no magic number other than more. And the reason I say that is there are shifting alliances, whether it's on energy policy or whether it's on health care issues. Whatever it may be, you have to put together different coalitions, even within the Democratic Party. We want to reach out and get the support of our Republican colleagues. But it's nice to be able to put together a majority among Democrats. And obviously the more Democrats that you have, the easier it is to do that. And every coalition shifts, depending on the issue.

MR. TODD: Now, you talk about playing offense. But I was looking at a chart of how much money you've spent, your independent expenditure committee, how much money you've spent in various congressional districts, and you've spent more money in Paul Kanjorski's seat, a Democrat, a long-time Democrat, who's faced some ethical issues in Pennsylvania -- you've spent more money on him than any other seat.

Does that counter the message of change that you guys are trying to do as a party? Do you defend spending that kind of money on somebody that maybe some in the Democratic Party would say, "You know what, he made his own bed; he should lie in it"?

REP. VAN HOLLEN: Well, we spent some early money there because his opponent was out on the attack. His opponent was attacking him with lots of baseless accusations. And we thought it was very important to go in and help Paul Kanjorski tell the story there.

But we're going to be spending most of our funds this time on new races, on new candidates, people who are part of the Obama agenda for change. That's where the great majority of our resources will go. We are going to have to defend some of the new members who were just elected last time as part of that momentum.

MR. TODD: Where does Obama help? I know people talk about where he hurts, and you've got some members that are, like, not endorsing him yet. We know where he may hurt. But where does he help when you sit there and say, "You know what, without Obama, that seat isn't winnable; with him, it is"?

REP. VAN HOLLEN: Well, first, he helps across the board in terms of new voters, especially young voters. Our challenge is to make sure, when they come out for the first time and vote for Obama and Biden, that they stick around in the voting booth long enough to also vote for our congressional candidates. So across the board, there are going to be a lot of people who didn't participate in the past who are coming onto the political playing field. That's number one. Number two --

MR. TODD: (Inaudible.)

REP. VAN HOLLEN: Well, that's across the board, especially, obviously, in college towns. There are also other places around the country where you have --

MR. TODD: Is there a college town where there's Republican members?

REP. VAN HOLLEN: Actually, believe it or not, there are some Republicans on college campuses. But I will say that I, in good faith, can go to college campuses and say, "I want every one of you to come out and vote," because statistically Democrats have been winning the young vote. My counterpart, Tom Cole, has a little bit harder time doing that with a straight face.

But there are also other districts around the country where a large African-American turnout in this election could turn it; for example, North Carolina's 8th district, Larry Kissell, Democratic candidate, lost by about 350 votes last time. That's a district. Ohio 1st, Steve Chabot, we have a terrific candidate, Steve Driehaus.

MR. TODD: You're hoping to take in African-American support there.

REP. VAN HOLLEN: Absolutely. So there are lots of places where I think Barack Obama is going to help us in terms of --

MR. TODD: Will you borrow any amount of money to win more seats? How much money will you borrow?

REP. VAN HOLLEN: Well, that's a good question. As you know, historically we do borrow a little more. And we want to make sure we don't leave any opportunities out there. And that means that, as much as we have been winning the resource game so far, we still don't have the resources we need to take advantage of all the opportunities that are out there, all the great candidates. So those are the kind of questions we'll be looking at.

MR. TODD: Congressman Van Hollen, thanks for doing this.

REP. VAN HOLLEN: Good to be with you.

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