A spokeswoman told POLITICO on Friday that the congressman is reaching out to fellow House Democrats, asking for their support in his pursuit of the ranking member slot on the Energy and Commerce Committe’s Communications, Technology and the Internet panel next year. Sources say a combination of his full committee seniority and caucus support could secure him the job.

“It is vitally important that we have leadership at the helm of this subcommittee which is strong, effective and knowledgeable about the impact that future legislation and policy will have in the marketplace,” Rush stressed in his letter.

If the stars align for Rush, the ranking member spot would guarantee the congressman a continued, leading role in top tech and telecommunications debates — namely regarding Internet privacy, an issue on which the congressman has been active as chair of the consumer protection subcommittee.

But even if Rush’s bid succeeds, he would lead a markedly different crop of Democrats in 2011 than outgoing Chairman Rick Boucher of Virginia does today. A string of retirements and election defeats — including Boucher — will drastically alter the panel’s composition even before chamber leaders work out a party ratio that will have Democrats giving up some seats to the new House Republican majority.

“Rush, of course, won’t be able to drive the agenda because he’s in the minority. But the challenge for him is to be as effective in working with the Republicans and shaping their legislation as Reps. Rick Boucher and Ed Markey were when they served in the minority,” a former telecom staffer told POLITICO. “Scoring without the ball is the toughest part of the game to master.”

Rush’s interest in a new leadership assignment under the Energy and Commerce Committee umbrella follows news earlier this week that Markey, a veteran committee member, is seeking the ranking member job on the Natural Resources Committee.

Some initially speculated that Markey would depart his current post as energy subcommittee chairman to return to the telecom panel he led for years. But the Massachusetts congressman decided to head Natural Resources, a position that will put Markey in a prime position to oversee the BP oil spill.

That shift left Rush, as well as Reps. Anna Eshoo of California and Mike Doyle of Pennsylvania, as possible candidates to lead Democrats on the tech subcommittee. However, House Democrats’ rules allow members to choose their assignments in order of seniority, subject to a vote, and Rush is ahead of both members.

Doyle’s office says he is interested in making a run at becoming ranking member.

“As someone who has been a leader on telecom issues for years, Congressman Doyle would certainly be interested in serving as ranking member on the communications and Internet subcommittee, and he is talking with his colleagues about it,” Doyle’s spokesman told POLITICO.

Even if Rush does not ultimately take over the tech subcommittee, its members will confront a host of tech and telecom issues that have in some cases proven politically divisive.

Teed up are efforts on online privacy and net neutrality. Rush has been quite active on privacy, and he could very well work with Stearns and other top GOP’ers to finish a bill and shepherd it to a vote. But the Illinois Democrat has been far less vocal on net neutrality, even voting in 2006 against an amendment that would have put rules in place that required Internet providers treat all Web traffic equally. A GOP-led House is unlikely to touch net neutrality even if Rush did strongly support the policy.

Few doubt Rush’s credentials. As leader of the consumer protection subcommittee, Rush has held a number of joint hearings with its tech counterpart. The congressman even served as a conferee in 1996, when the House and Senate merged legislation that eventually became the nation’s top communications law.

“Congressman Rush has been a leader on telecom and technology issues, dating to his work on the BITS video choice bill in 2006 and right up through his privacy legislation during the current Congress. He’s shown an ability to work with both Democrats and Republicans,” said Gregg Rothschild, a managing director at the Glover Park Group.

“He’s not a bomb thrower. I think more than anything else, this may point to an active CTI subcommittee for the next Congress,” he said.