Van Hollen: New York election scuffle shows Republicans are more divided than Democrats

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) Chairman Chris Van Hollen said Thursday that the special election in New York proves Republicans are more divided than Democrats.

Referring to the momentum of Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman over left-leaning Republican Dede Scozzafava in Tuesday’s election, Van Hollen (Md.) said the battle between GOP ideologues and pragmatists threatens the party’s 2010 chances.

{mosads}“It’s pretty clear that, at least in New York-23, those who support the right-wing agenda of the Republican Party are winning, because the Republican candidate has fallen dramatically,” Van Hollen said at a Thursday morning breakfast sponsored by The Christian Science Monitor.

Van Hollen’s committee is trying to marginalize Hoffman as the race has shifted to a two-man battle between him and Democrat Bill Owens.

Van Hollen referred to Hoffman as a “sore loser,” a term often used for a candidate running as an Independent or third-party candidate after unsuccessfully pursuing a major-party nomination.

He said the while Democrats have been working to unite a diverse caucus on issues like healthcare reform, the ideological battles in the GOP are playing out on a much grander stage.

He noted potential GOP presidential candidate and Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty is supporting Hoffman, as is former National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) Chairman Tom Cole (Okla.).

“Clearly, those individuals, by rejecting the Republican nominee … they’ve sent a signal that they’re more interested in purist ideology than they are in problem-solving,” Van Hollen said. “You don’t find that in the Democratic Caucus.”

Van Hollen suggested that an effort by MoveOn.org to threaten primary challenges to Democrats who opposed the public option for healthcare is finished. He cited Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) recent announcement that the Senate version of healthcare reform would have a public option.

“I think that some people’s concerns that we wouldn’t have a public option in the final bill were somewhat reduced,” he said. “I believe that was the objective of MoveOn.org.

“It would certainly be a mistake for the Democratic Party to do to its members what the Republican Party has done to its.”

{mosads}Van Hollen also said that 2010 would not be a repeat of 1994, when Republicans surged into the majority in the first midterm under a new president.

He noted the significant decrease in the number of Democratic incumbents who are retiring, as well as the fact that Democrats feel strongly about their chances of playing offense — which is something they didn’t do in 1994.

Republican Study Committee Chairman Tom Price (Ga.) predicted last week that the GOP would return to the majority after 2010 by capturing at least 40 seats. But Van Hollen said Republicans haven’t offered enough ideas to be a viable alternative for voters.

“This will not be another 1994,” Van Hollen said, adding: “I don’t know what Tom Price and his colleagues are thinking.”

Van Hollen also seemed to suggest that job numbers — a traditionally lagging indicator of economic recovery — might not be in Democrats’ favor in 2010.

With the unemployment rate inching toward double-digits, Van Hollen emphasized that the American people will reward the Democrats for taking decisive action.

“The unemployment figures will probably not be where any of us would like to see them by that time,” he said. “I think the American people are fair, and when they look at that and ask themselves that question, they will see that our [Republican] colleagues, unfortunately, were AWOL.”

NRCC spokesman Paul Lindsay said Republican values will win no matter what.

“No matter what happens on election night, the one thing that is clear is that a majority of voters will likely reject the big-government agenda that Washington Democrats are forcing down the throats of American taxpayers. That is not a good sign for Democrats as they head into 2010.”

— This article was updated at 11:33 a.m.