From Political Wire: I have done some real quick background, and the most interesting bit I have found is that while, like Rahm, he came in 2002, he was significantly outspent in his contested Democratic primary by Mark Kennedy Shriver (Rahm used a big money advantage and the Chicago machine to narrowly defeat a grassroots candidate in his primary). That is a good sign for the way Van Hollen will act during primary campaigns. In the general, against a popular, "moderate" Republican incumbent, Van Hollen won by 4% in a district with a partisan voting index of Dem +19.9. Even in an open seat, against a well funded opponent, and even in a year like 2002, that isn't very good for a district that is so incredibly blue. For more on his 2002 race, click here.

He seems to be quite progressive, with a voting loyalty rate approaching 100%. You can see more of his voting record here. The Stakeholder has a video of him speaking at Jesse Lee's high school.

Some more party positions announced today:

• Congressman Xavier Becerra of California as Assistant to the Speaker
• Congresswoman Juanita Millender-McDonald of California as Chairwoman of the House Administration Committee
• Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones of Ohio as Chairwoman of the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct
• Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney of New York as Vice Chairwoman of the Joint Economic Committee

We seem to be moving forward quite well. I can't imagine Van Hollen upsetting netroots activists the same way as Rahm.

Update: Info on the 2002 eleciton in MD-08 revised and updated. I told you it only takes 15 minutes for me to retract mistakes when I make them.

In his update to Johnathan's "Examining the DCCC v. Netroots Meme" Chris laments (I corrected his spelling):

Did any grassroots and movement candidates lose in the House once they got out of the primary? Makes you wonder how Christine Cegelis would have done in IL-06.

As anyone who's read this blog since the primary is aware, I was a big proponent of Christine Cegelis' campaign and a big detractor of Duckworth's. How Christine would have faired in this race is anyone's guess, and I can only dream of what we could have done with the type of resources Duckworth's campaign had along with Christine's strong anti-war populist message.  However, right after a close loss is not the time, especially for the volunteers who worked their asses off for Duckworth. I remember how I felt after the primary. They can't feel much better and deserve credit for working so hard for a candidate they believed in or to just to try and regain the House for Democrats. Now is not the time to play "what if Rahm backed Christine."

Instead, this post is about what Christine Cegelis did post-primary. I think it's an and astonishing example of what one person is capable of doing for the Party even after it threw her under the bus.

I live in Arizona's Congressional District 1, a sprawling district covering close to half of this state. The registration figures show a split district, with Dems holding a seven-point edge overall. Yet, no Dem has won this district since 1992, when Karan English pulled off a huge upset over Doug Wead (R-Theocrat). I was Karan's pollster and one of her strategy team. I know what it takes to win here.

Today, however, Democrat Ellen Simon is poised to take this district from Rick Renzi (R-Corruption). She is positioned to win, in my view, because she's an excellent candidate and also because of Howard Dean's 50-State Strategy, which BiPM diaried about today. This, my friends, is one of the places where it all comes together for that final Red Zone drive  to score the game-winning touchdown. Follow me on the flip and I'll tell you how she scores the TD.

I just read a piece in Washington Monthly (link below) that makes my blood boil.  Basically, numerous senior Dem members of the House, the exact people who stand to gain from a Dem majority, are doing nothing to help us get one.  They are behind in their DCCC dues and are barely participating in the Red to Blue campaign.  See the link below.

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2006_08/009341.php

The two most egregious examples are John Conyers, who would chair the House Judiciary Committee and Pete Stark, who would chair the Ways and Means Health Subcommittee.  These are extremely important and powerful positions and yet these two seem to be doing nothing to help make this happen.  It should be noted that neither have serious races and both have hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash on hand (see chart in article above).  These guys are both good on issues but this type of behavior is unacceptable when we are fighting to have a bulkwork against the Bush Admin.