Van Hollen: ’08 race could hurt the party

House Democratic campaign head Chris Van Hollen (Md.) warned Tuesday that a drawn-out Democratic presidential nominating contest could hurt his efforts to expand his party’s majority.

“You don’t want people who are supporting one of the nominees to say they’re going to sit out the general election,” said Van Hollen, who has been tempering expectations for the fall even as his Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) dominates the fundraising game and asserts a field of about 50 potential takeover opportunities.

{mosads}He told reporters Tuesday that he doesn’t think the presidential race has reached the point where disappointed supporters of the losing candidate will sit out the general election, but he suggested that time could be nigh.

“I do think there’s a danger of reaching that point if things continue,” he said in a meeting with reporters. “And that’s one of the cautionary notes we have in this election.”

Van Hollen has brought up the potentially harmful down-ballot effects of the long presidential race repeatedly this week, including Monday during a speech to the Communications Workers of America conference.

His call for a cleaner race would appear to benefit Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), who holds a substantial lead in pledged and overall delegates.

In late February, Van Hollen told the Capitol News Connection that superdelegates should seriously consider which candidate is leading in pledged delegates when making a decision — a stance that also favors Obama.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who like Van Hollen is publicly neutral, drew a backlash from supporters of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) in recent weeks for similar comments about superdelegates.

Van Hollen’s state was carried handily by Obama, but he reinforced Tuesday that he is neutral and has never said that Clinton should drop out of the race.

He instead said that the focus of the Democratic contest should be on presumptive GOP nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.).

Clinton supporter Sen. Charles Schumer (N.Y.), the chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), sounded much less worried about how a protracted contest could affect congressional races.

“Obviously it’s something you have to watch,” said Schumer, who along with Van Hollen called the briefing to update the media on Democrats’ House and Senate campaign efforts. “I don’t think that’s happened yet, and I don’t think it will happen.”

Signs have begun to point more toward a potentially divided Democratic base. A Gallup poll in March showed 28 percent of Clinton backers and 19 percent of Obama supporters would vote for McCain if their candidate doesn’t win the Democratic nod.

The presidential race wasn’t the only cautionary note brought up Tuesday for a Democratic Party that appears to be on the offensive.

Van Hollen and Schumer also suggested their massive financial advantages this cycle could be offset by pro-Republican 527 groups, and Van Hollen even said the party’s victory in former House Speaker Dennis Hastert’s (R-Ill.) district might not be symbolic of a larger trend this election cycle.

Van Hollen asserted that Rep. Bill Foster’s (D-Ill.) win in Hastert’s district sent a “shockwave” through the political landscape, but he also conceded that “the jury’s still out” and repeatedly said that Democrats would beat history by gaining even one seat this cycle.

A party benefiting from large gains in a single election over the last 40 years has generally been unable to add to them the following cycle. Van Hollen often says he is battling history.

He emphasized that the Illinois race was unique from other special elections in that it included two engaged and well-funded candidates with party apparatuses behind them.

“We did think it was a test case for where people in this country are and the kind of decisions they will be making in the fall,” Van Hollen said. “The Republicans ignore that lesson at their own peril, but if they want to write it off as a one-shot wonder, that’s OK with us.”

Schumer also reinforced his support for Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) in Lautenberg’s week-old primary against Rep. Robert Andrews (D-N.J.).

Schumer did not say how much the DSCC would spend on the June primary, but he suggested the party was unconcerned about losing the seat if either Lautenberg or Andrews is the nominee.

The GOP settled on businessman Andrew Unanue as its top candidate on Monday’s filing deadline day after businessman John Crowley declined to run twice in the past two weeks.

“We don’t think that the field of their candidates is as good as either of ours, but we think Frank is the stronger candidate both in the primary and the general,” Schumer said.