The chief campaign strategist for House Democrats thinks the GOP made a strategic error in voting against Wall Street reform.
Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) made the case that Republicans' widespread opposition to the legislation that passed through both chambers of Congress could damage their chances of capturing the Tea Party movement's full support in the fall midterm elections.
"They are understandably very suspicious of Washington Republicans because Washington Republicans would love to use them but then not adopt any of their policies and I think the Wall Street reform bill is case and point," Van Hollen said in an appearance on C-SPAN's "Newsmakers" program.
The Senate approved its Wall Street reform bill on Thursday, with support from only four Republicans. Two Democrats also voted agains the bill, but they argued it did not go far enough in curbing actions by big financial institutions.
The House approved its financial regulatory overhaul late last year with no Republican votes.
The House and Senate must now hold a conference to reconcile differences between the two bills in order to send one version to President Barack Obama. Along with healthcare reform, the Wall Street legislation would represent the second big legislative score for President Barack Obama.
Van Hollen said Wall Street reform is one area where the Tea Party and Democrats have something in common.
"I think a lot of the Tea Party movement is a reflection of the tough economic times we've been through," he said. "I bet if you were to ask members of the Tea Party movement if they wanted to rein in Wall Street...they would say 'yeah, let's rein in Wall Street. Yet not a single Republican in the House voted for Wall Street reform and in the Senate there were only four."
The Tea Party movement has become a growing force in U.S. politics, and its support goes to conservative politicians. But the movment has bucked leaders in both parties.
This week Kentucky Republicans voted to have Rand Paul, a darling of the Tea Party movement, as their Senate candidate instead of a politician backed by the state's GOP establishment, including Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.).
Republicans believe they have a shot at winning back the majority of at least one of Congress's chambers this fall, but Democrats believe the Tea Party movement will divide the GOP and help Democrats.
In the wide-ranging interview, Van Hollen repeated a claim he made this week that the GOP will not take back the House this fall, despite their claims that they posses the momentum due to the unpopularity of Democrats' policies.
“I don’t see this as another 1994 at all," he said. "I think we obviously face a very difficult political environment, that is very clear, but is it going to be the kind of wave we saw in 1994? I don’t think so."
A politically vulnerable House Democrat is speaking out against a popular bill that would rename the Department of the Navy.
Rep.
Christopher Carney (D-Pa.) delivered a floor speech this week
expressing his opposition to the bill, which would redesignate the
Department of the Navy to the Department of the Navy and Marine Corps.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.), passed the House
by voice vote this week. It has broad bipartisan support, attracting a
record 425 co-sponsors. The Senate companion, authored by Sen. Pat
Roberts (R-Kan.) has 47 co-sponsors. Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and
Jim Webb (D-Va.) oppose the measure. And so does Carney.
In his speech, Carney said, "I have been a member of the United
States Navy for more than 15 years and I am proud to be one of three
members of Congress still serving in the Navy Reserve.
He added, "Past, present and future Marines should certainly be proud of
the Corps, but also of the Department of the Navy. The Marine Corps
was, is, and should remain, part of the Navy, both in name and in
mission. A name change at the Department level will do nothing but
foster animosity in the ranks of the Navy and Marine Corps. We should
focus instead on the fight at hand and not worry about a change in
nomenclature. Unfortunately, the spirit of H.R. 24 is counter to that
notion."
Carney
will face former U.S. attorney Tom Marino (R) in November. Sen. John
McCain (R-Ariz.) won Carney's district by nine points over then-Sen.
Barack Obama (D-Ill.) in 2008.
Idaho House candidate Vaughn Ward (R) is under a microscope of media attention because of some recent misteps and another that came last night, when he misidentified Puerto Rico in a debate with his primary opponent, Raul Labrador, who was born on the island.
Both men were asked if the self-governing U.S. territory should be made a state. (Its residents are already American citizens.)
They agreed that it shouldn't, but during Ward's answer he called the island a "country."
"I don't care what state it is or what country is it that wants to become a part of America, it's not time, it's not going to be time," Ward said. "Let's focus on us first."
"I just need to correct," Labrador injected. "Puerto Rico's not a country." He suggested Ward take a "civics lesson."
"I really don’t care what it is," Ward replied. "It doesn't matter."
Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) suggested Thursday that Democrats have given up hope of winning the special election in Hawaii this weekend.
"We're looking at November in Hawaii," said Van Hollen, who helms the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
(DCCC), at a press briefing with reporters in Washington.
The DCCC had already announced that it would not invest more resources in the race to replace Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D), who resigned to focus on his gubernatorial candidacy. But Van Hollen's comments are the clearest and most recent sign that Democrats have given up hope on the special election.
In the winner-take-all contest Republican candidate Charles Djou is leading mostly because two Democrats, Ed Case and Colleen Hanabusa, have split the vote on their side.
Democrats are confident they will take the seat back in November, when they have one candidate on the ballot. The district, which is President Barack Obama's home district, leans heavily Democratic.
"I can confidently predict that the Democrats together will get a majority of the vote just like the Democratic candidate in November will get a majority of the vote," Van Hollen said.
Djou's presumed victory would still give Republicans a boost. Not only is it where Obama was raised, but it would be the first time they switch a seat from Democrat to Republican in a special election since 2001.
The House Democrats' top campaigner said Thursday that a win in the Pennsylvania special House election shows that Republicans' hopes of taking back the House of Representatives have taken a huge hit.
Republicans have said the Democrats' passage of the controversial healthcare law, as well as high unemployment, have put Democrats' hopes of holding onto their majority on the rocks.
But Rep. Chris Van Hollen (Md.), chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), said that Congressman-elect Mark Critz's (D-Pa.) win in Tuesday's special election to replace the late Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) put a damper on Republican momentum.
"The hype about this being another 1994, the hype about them taking back the House hit a brick wall of reality in Pennsylvania 12," he said at a press briefing with reporters in Washington.
Democrats are riding high after the special election win on Tuesday. It continues a streak of Republicans not being able to take a seat from Democrats in a special election since 2001.
Some observers framed the race as a must-win for Republicans; the district is mainly comprised of white working-class voters who heavily favored GOP nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) in the 2008 presidential election over Barack Obama.
Republicans are portraying Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) as a boogeywoman in their attempt to win back the House, according to Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine.
"I have my own theories about why Republicans often like to make the speaker a 'boogeywoman.' And you might divine my theories from the way I phrased that," Kaine told a National Press Club lunch Wednesday.
Republicans made Pelosi and President Barack Obama an issue in Tuesday's special election for former Rep. John Murtha's (D-Pa.) seat. Both were unpopular in the district but Democrat Mark Critz, a former Murtha staffer, prevailed with a comfortable nine-point margin, which Kaine pointed out several times during his remarks.
He also defended Pelosi's tenure in the House.
"She's done a very effective job especially in a Democratic caucus that is extremely broad," he said. "Being a speaker of a very broad caucus in its diversity and its ideological position is a tough job and she's done a good one. I should have given her praise in terms of that special win last night, because, boy I'll tell you, the House Democrats have quite a track record going winning those special elections. She gets a lot of credit."
Republicans also have made the speaker an issue in several competitive House races, given the controversial votes the chamber has held under her tenure, including ones on climate change and healthcare reform.
Kaine, meanwhile, declined to play political predictor, refusing to name how many seats his party may gain or lose this fall.
Kentucky businessman Jeffrey Reetz (R) wasn't the only National Republican Congressional Committee-backed candidate to lose in Tuesday's primaries. Former U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan, who was running in Pennsylvania's 4th district GOP primary, also failed to win her party's nomination. Buchanan was reportedly a top recruit for the NRCC but she lost by more than 30 points to attorney Keith Rothfus (R).
According to preliminary results, Rothfus held a commanding lead with 67 percent of the vote compared to Buchanan's 33 percent with 77 percent of precincts reporting Tuesday night.
Rothfus, 48, raised more money and carried less political baggage than Buchanan -- two reasons he said made him the stronger choice to face Democratic U.S. Rep. Jason Altmire, 42, of McCandless in November. Altmire took office in 2007.
"People I actually came in contact with were very supportive and very responsive. Apparently there were a lot of other people out there who felt differently," Buchanan said at her campaign headquarters in Wexford.
Rothfus, a father of six, touted his time as an attorney in President George W. Bush's Office of Faith-Based Initiatives. The Bush administration hired Rothfus after he volunteered on the former president's 2004 re-election campaign.
Buchanan promoted her eight years as Western Pennsylvania's top federal prosecutor even though opponents ridiculed her for a failed corruption case against former Allegheny County Coroner Dr. Cyril H. Wecht and her conviction of famed marijuana advocate Tommy Chong for selling bongs online.
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