Van Hollen aims to 'beat history'

Mr. Van Hollen says those grass-roots contributions - that is, small-dollar donors who give, say, $50 or $100 online or in response to direct-mail solicitations - account for about a third of what the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee raises, with another third from big-dollar donors and the last third coming from the dues paid by members of the House Democratic Caucus.

Overall, as of the end of May, the committee, with $47.2 million, was enjoying a sevenfold cash-on-hand advantage over its GOP counterpart ($6.7 million). "Obviously, the Republicans have had a really hard time," said Mr. Van Hollen, trying to disguise his glee.

But the third-term congressman cautioned that a lot of outside, independent expenditures - much of it generated by conservative groups like Freedom Watch - will supplement the Republicans' resources. "They have become the substitute for the NRCC," he said of such groups.

In 2002, Mr. Van Hollen, then a state senator, shocked the powerful Kennedy family by edging then-Del. Mark K. Shriver to win the Democratic nomination in the 8th District. That fall, he parlayed a newly gerrymandered map into victory over eight-term Republican incumbent Constance A. Morella. This year, his opponent in November is a Republican eye surgeon named Steve Hudson.

Mr. Van Hollen has proved he can win elections when his name is on the ballot. This cycle, after two comfortable re-elections, Maryland's rising star in the House has a chance to prove he can win elections when the fate of other Democrats - no less his own reputation - is on the line.

Thomas F. Schaller teaches political science at UMBC. His column appears regularly in The Sun. His e-mail is schaller67@ gmail.com.