Q: Where will local candidates boost votes for Obama?

Van Hollen: In terms of the other way around, in Ohio, [John] Boccieri is running. That's a district, as you know, that's been traditionally Republican-leaning. That is the Ralph Regula open seat. That is an example of a seat where Boccieri's efforts will benefit the Obama campaign.... I think he is in a very strong position, but his candidacy in and of itself will help bring out a larger vote because he is very focused on a ground effort, reaching out to independent voters, and part of his message is 'Vote for Boccieri,' but also we hope that this will be a boost to the Obama effort.

Q: Most of the media's attention is focused squarely on Obama. Does the presidential candidate's presence in the limelight hurt downballot races?

Van Hollen: Our challenge is going to be for those voters who come out for the first time, come off the sidelines and participate in this election because of the enthusiasm and excitement over Barack Obama, that they stay in the voting booth and then vote for the Democratic congressional candidate as opposed to going into the both and voting for Obama-Biden and then leaving. And that is going to be a challenge we have to take on a congressional-race-by-congressional-race basis. Obviously, to the extent that we can raise the profile of the congressional races nationally, we hope to do that. But there is no doubt that the focus is going to be on the presidential race at this election. I mean, that is the main event here.

So we have to do two things: number one, keep our supporters focused on the fact that there are these important congressional races; and number two, on a district-by-district basis, have a very engaged voter education effort. And that's one of the reasons we have significantly beefed up our voter contact operation at the DCCC this time. It is much bigger than before. We used to have one person dedicated to field and outreach. This time we have seven people. Last cycle we spent a total of $9 million in that effort. We have already spent $9 million in that effort this cycle. Last cycle, we started it in August. This time, we started it in April. And that is part of our door-to-door efforts, so people are going to someone's door and saying, 'There is this congressional race in the district too, and here is our candidate.'

Q: How does the DCCC work with the Obama campaign to make sure it succeeds in this challenge of transferring Obama enthusiasm to its candidates?

Van Hollen: Partly by the ground efforts -- in other words, when people go door-to-door for the Obama campaign, that they are also carrying the literature for the other candidates, the congressional candidates. And, as I say, it works both ways because a lot of our congressional candidates have a field operation going in a lot of places where the Obama campaign does not have one up and running. But certainly in terms of the Obama impact, what we have to make sure is that all of the people who become engaged in that campaign and are going and calling their neighbors and knocking on doors, that they are also saying that, 'There is also a congressional race in our community and you need to go out and vote for that congressional candidate.'

Q: How much will Obama's support from the youth vote make a difference for House candidates?

Van Hollen: That is one of the big wild cards -- how those voters are reflected in the polling. If you want to find out where my 18-year-old daughter was on this political race, then you would have to text-message her. So one of the big unknowns is what kind of turnout we're going to have among young voters. Obviously, in the primary, you had young voters very energized. It's important for the Barack Obama campaign to sustain that energy going into the general election. I think they are going to be able to do it.

Q: Have downballot House races benefited from Obama's success on the Web? For example, has there been any sharing of the voter lists between Obama's campaign and the DCCC?

Van Hollen: One of the things that we have been really pleased with at the DCCC is, our grassroots online fundraising has more than doubled over the last cycle. So in that sense, the sort of energy and excitement helped boost our numbers. In terms of lists and exchange, we do exchanges of lists. Obama has done an e-mail for us to our list. I don't know yet whether we've gotten, you know, their list. In fact, I don't think we do have their list.... I suspect there are lots of first-time donors who have given to Barack Obama who have maybe not yet given to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which is why it's important and valuable for us for him to send out an e-mail to our supporters. And the extent that he will do that to his list, even if we don't get a hold of the list, that would be helpful, too. Those are the kinds of things I'm sure we will explore with the Obama campaign going forward.

Q: Of all the races, what one candidate are you really pulling for?

Van Hollen: OK, I've got my home state of Maryland, all right? And we've got a good candidate in the Maryland First District. His name is Frank Kratovil. It's a tough seat in that it is a historically Republican seat. This is the Wayne Gilchrest open seat, where a guy by the name of Andy Harris, a state senator, a very right-wing Republican, defeated Gilchrest in the primary. We have a guy who is a state's attorney, much closer in political profile and temperament to Wayne Gilchrest and, I think, to the people in that district than the Republican candidate, who is a Club For Growth candidate who succeeded by coming in and whacking Gilchrest from the right on the war and some other issues. So we have a good shot there. I mean, it's on our red-to-blue.

Q: Can you name a surprise race, one that the DCCC expects to win but isn't on anyone's radar?

Van Hollen: A surprise race? It wouldn't be a surprise, now come on. OK, I'll tell you one that I don't think is on anyone's radar screen: Tom Perriello. It's the Virgil Goode seat in Virginia. Just because Virginia, as a state, as you know, is right in the middle of every crosscurrent in this election. I mean, it's a big state in the presidential races. People are already getting bombarded by robo-calls by both campaigns. Mark Warner's Senate race will be very much in play, so we think there are a lot opportunities in Virginia.

Q: House versus Senate. Why should efforts focus on winning House races?

Van Hollen: It's hard. Obviously, you have the filibuster rule in the Senate. In the House, though, putting together a majority on any one issue with the current numbers is very difficult. I mean, you've got these shifting alliances. But the speaker has done, in my view, just an incredible job at being able to put together the numbers that we need on the important issues. It would provide a lot more flexibility to move forward on some of the big issues we are going to be debating -- energy policy, health care. We are focused on children's health, but when you expand beyond that, putting together a majority is going to be very difficult.

I would say the House and the Senate are both very important this time around. I know the argument on the Senate. You got to get to 60. But in the House, to the extent that we pick up numbers, we also are able to bring more Republicans on board. And that becomes an issue both in terms of putting together a bipartisan majority, but also when it comes to overriding a veto, in the terrible case where we somehow didn't prevail in the presidential. Again, not going to happen, but, you know, that's another factor.