Vigorous Van Hollen constrains Rove on Fox News Sunday

Rep. Chris Van Hollen: Appearing on Fox News Sunday.As chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Rep. Chris Van Hollen spends much of his time these days recruiting candidates, raising money and serving as a mouthpiece for the Democratic Congress.

It was in this capacity Sunday morning that he took on Karl Rove, former chief political adviser to President Bush, on Fox News Sunday.

Mike Wallace moderated this debate between what he described as "two of the sharpest minds" in American politics - or at least he tried to.

Because a vigorous Van Hollen showed no compunction in getting physical - metaphorically and literally - with a heavier-looking Rove, who may be out of the West Wing but remains a boogeyman in the minds of Democrats.

On the Democrats' generic ballot advantage in the race for the White House and Congress next November, Rove reiterated the gist of his debut column for Newsweek magazine: that Republicans need to portray a positive vision for America.

Van Hollen pointed to these polls as the impetus for the swath of congressional Republican retirements - 17 in the House alone - and the large financial advantage the DCCC has over its Republican counterpart. "We have a lot of energy on our side," Van Hollen said. "We've been very much on offense."

Rove acknowledged the Democrats currently have the momentum.

When Rove chuckled at the idea that Democrats would not raise taxes, Van Hollen got aggressive, placing a firm grip on Rove's arm and raising his voice while making his case.

Rove asked Van Hollen to remove his hand and proceeded to attack the Democrats for promising to roll back the Bush tax cuts and failing to address the Alternative Minimum Tax in a timely fashion - but failed to land a personal blow on Van Hollen the way Robert Novak did a week ago.

Van Hollen promised, "We will have it fixed before the end."

"Congressman. Mr. Rove," Wallace broke in. "I'm going to pretend that I'm in control of this situation."

The conversation then turned to the Iraq war and Rove's recent assertion that, "The administration was opposed to voting on [war authorization] in the fall of 2002."

Van Hollen rebuffed the idea. "I was running in 2002," he said, accusing Rove of trying to "revise history."

Rove said he was only trying to set the record straight, as "the general conventional wisdom" is that the President was the only person pushing for war. He then read a litany of events making the case that then Democratic Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle was also a major force in the drive for war authorization and regime change in Iraq.

In response, Van Hollen pulled a paper from his coat-pocket to read a statement from former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer that disputed Rove's claim. Fleischer told the Washington Post, "It was definitely the Bush administration that set it in motion and determined the timing, not the Congress. I think Karl in this instance just has his facts wrong."

Rove said he disagreed with his former colleague and that "Ari is not aware of and was not privileged to this conversation."

Addressing the new Rasmussen Reports national poll showing a tightening in both parties' presidential nominating races, Van Hollen said he and Rove could find common ground on the idea that "the situation is very fluid."

In closing, Wallace asked the two men if they'd be interested in coming back to debate again.

Rove agreed, "As long as he doesn't keep touching me like this."

"We're just trying to keep you constrained and in check."