Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee

WASHINGTON – Anticipating large gains on Election Day, some Democrats are beginning to ponder how to maintain their majority in the House of Representatives heading into the future.

And there is increasing buzz that a fifty-year-old, fourth term congressman from Long Island might be at least part of the answer.  read more »

Carol Shea-Porter, who was elected last year to represent the eastern half of New Hampshire in Congress, has decided to endorse Barack Obama. This is easily the most significant Granite State endorsement for Obama and one that could have a ripple effect.

Shea-Porter's political history explains why. A former social worker and a true grass-roots activist, her frustration with the Iraq war and the Bush administration led her to run for Congress last year. Immediately, she was opposed by local, state and national Democratic organizations -- including Rahm Emanuel and the D.C.C.C., which endorsed her primary opponent, the then-Democratic leader of the state House of Representatives.

More after the jump.  read more »

Nancy Pelosi helped raise a cool $300,000 for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee last night at the Upper East Side home of Dennis and Karen Mehiel, according to one of the guests, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney.

In addition to Maloney, who I ran into at a Women for Hillary event this morning at the Hilton, the guest list of elected Democrats included representatives Steve Israel, Nydia Velazquez and Chris Van Hollen.

Barack Obama's new deputy national press secretary is former Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesperson Jennifer Psaki, who started her new gig just a few days ago she told me.

Obama had been criss-crossing the country for Democratic candidates, which might have given him some time to win over key staffers.

Earlier, I noted that Obama hired two staffers from the Democratic National Committee, - whose chairman is no out and out Hillary Clinton supporter.

In case you were wondering what all those talented staff people were doing.

-- Azi Paybarah

Tonight, Chuck Schumer and Rep. Anthony Weiner hold a fundraiser for Stephen Harrison, the Democrat challenging the city's only Republican congressman, Vito Fossella of the 13th congressional district.

But despite the visit from his better-known colleagues -- and despite the prospect of big Democratic victories elsewhere in New York this year -- Harrison's challenge to Fossella hasn't commanded much attention.

The only time the race has made much of a stir, at least outside of Staten Island, has been when Fossella was fined $59,000 last week for misusing Elmo pictures that originally appeared in congressional mail, or when he used campaign money for a family ski trip.

So what about Harrison?

He told me in a recent interview that he's optimistic that the seat "can be won by Democrats strictly on a 'get out the vote' situation," pointing out that the Republicans are actually at a considerable registration disadvantage in the district.

But, he said, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is "certainly not helping," between their "cookie-cutter formulas" for winning races and their unsuccessful attempt to lure Bill de Blasio into making the contest.

For anyone interested in knowing more about Harrison, a fuller transcript of the Q&A is after the jump.  read more »

-- Azi Paybarah

Evidently, the Brooklyn Council Member really is taking a hard look at challenging Vito Fossella for Congress on Staten Island.

"The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) has expressed excitement about my potential candidacy, and local activists in the 13th district and in our neighborhood are encouraging me to enter the race," he writes.  read more »

Full email after the jump.

The two young operatives from New York toil away in a nondescript office building near a highway ove  read more »