Yesterday, Brian Beutler broke the news that Rep. Chris Van Hollen, who chaired House Democrats' political arm for the last two election cycles, is now in the hunt to be the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee in the next Congress. This would be a smart move for the Democrats, since their ranking member on the Budget Committee will be a primary interlocutor with likely Republican Budget Chair Paul Ryan, a rising GOP star with political savvy and a reputation as a policy wonk. Many of next year's fights will take place around this committee.
While Van Hollen has been in the political trenches of late, his origins as a politician are as a policy wonk; indeed, that's why some were surprised he was tapped to replace Rahm Emanuel when the Chicago congressman left the DCCC after the 2006 cycle. His tenure in the Maryland Legislator also gave him a reputation as an effective legislator. When he ran for Congress, a campaign consultant told The Washington Post that Van Hollen would "fit right [in] with all the smarty-pants" in his district, a Maryland suburb of D.C. On the Budget Committee, he'd replace Allyson Schwartz, who is currently in line for the top job, but Schwartz doesn't have Van Hollen's seniority, and as a member of the right-leaning New Democrat Caucus, might not be the right person to represent the party's priorities on the committee.*
Van Hollen has his own an angle, too: With Democrats out of leadership, he's got to find a landing place, and an opportunity to fight for Social Security and Medicare and against extending the Bush tax policies is a nice play to earn points among the Democratic primary electorate. Van Hollen is expected to vie for a Maryland Senate seat if Ben Cardin, who will be 70 when he runs for re-election in 2012, or Barabara Mikulski, who will be 80 when she can run for re-election in 2016, choose to step down.
If you're expecting recriminations for Van Hollen after the Democrats' lost the House, you won't find many. He was considered an effective campaign chair, and most Democrats blame some combination of the White House, the economy, and tough votes for their losses in the cycle. Most members have the impression that Van Hollen did the best he could with a bad year.
*Update: Schwartz has endorsed Van Hollen for the job, making his election all but inevitable.
- Tim Fernholz
