Van Hollen says Democrats ready for "political trench warfare" in battle for Congress
Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland says that Democrats are ready to engage in "political trench warfare" with just 23 days until the 2018 midterm elections, citing President Trump's rhetoric as a key factor in mobilizing voter turnout.
"Look, nobody goes lower than Donald Trump. I mean, that's a bottomless pit. No one's competing with that. He gets up at his rallies, he says go beat the crap out of them, he says lock 'em up. I actually don't think voters, especially independent voters, like that. But we are going to put up a tough fight," Van Hollen said on "Face the Nation" Sunday.
Van Hollen, who is chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said that the president has instead energized Democratic voters to turn out in record numbers "because he's been so polarizing and so divisive."
"I mean, look, the guy knows no bottom, but the reality is, what Democrats are saying is that we are locked in a pitched political battle and we are going to engage fully. I mean, this is political trench warfare and we're going to engage in that battle," Van Hollen said.
"And that's why Democrats in the Senate are doing a lot better than people expected us to do more than a year ago, when Republicans said they were going to win a net of eight seats."
Van Hollen said he sees a "credible" yet "narrow" path forward to regaining control of the Senate.
"This is a very tough political map for Senate Democrats. Probably the toughest we've seen in 60 years," he said. "The fact that people were talking about Democrats taking back a majority of the Senate shows how strong we have been and what kind of momentum we've got."
That path forward, with so many hotly contested Senate seats this November, is "all about turnout," Van Hollen said.
His assessment is in line with the new CBS News Battleground Tracker, which found that Democrats' chances of winning the House depend heavily on voter turnout. A growing number of Republican and Democratic voters in key battleground districts say they would be angry at the prospect of the other side winning. Those who say they'd be angry are also more likely to say they'll show up, with 61 percent of Democrats polled saying they are very enthusiastic about voting.
