Van Hollen on AL Senate Race: ‘DSCC Will Provide the Maximum Contribution’; Won’t Commit to Running TV Ads

In an appearance on MSNBC’s “MTP Daily” Thursday, Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), the chairman of the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee (DSCC), vowed to provide resources for Doug Jones’ U.S. Senate campaign in Alabama.

Jones, the Democratic Party nominee, faces Republican Roy Moore in a special election on December 12 to determine who will fill the U.S. Senate seat formerly held by Jeff Sessions.

Van Hollen told “MTP Daily” host Chuck Todd the DSCC would give the “maximum contribution” to Jones’ effort and then proceeded to attack Moore.

“We are committed,” Van Hollen said. “In addition to encouraging all our members to support our candidate Doug Jones, and I personally contributed to the campaign, the DSCC also has people on the ground in Alabama.”

“The DSCC will provide the maximum contribution to their campaign,” he added. “I can tell you that we’re working very hard. But more importantly, Doug Jones and his campaign are working hard. This is a race all about the future of Alabama. We have a terrific candidate in Doug Jones. They have an incredibly flawed candidate in Roy Moore, somebody we’ve discovered personally enriched himself through the charity that he created. So, I think the people of Alabama have a very clear choice: Do you want somebody who cheated people who thought they were providing to a good cause? Or do you want somebody who is going to bring people in Alabama together?”

Todd followed up by asking if the TV presence the DSCC was willing to commit would be a gauge for how serious Van Hollen’s organization was about the contest.

“Right now, we are working very hard to make sure the campaign – the Doug Jones campaign has the maximum amount of resources, and as you know, they are on the air right now,” he said. “They are raising lots of funds, lots of funds online … we have already provided resources, Chuck, as I told you. And we are going to look at every single one of our options as we go forward.”

Todd, seemingly unsatisfied by that response, pressed Van Hollen on committing to TV advertising, to which the Maryland Democrat said they were “exploring” all options.

“We are exploring all of our options right now,” Van Hollen added. “As I said, the campaign itself is on the air right now. We’re going to monitor it every day to see what we can do to be helpful. Our candidate is doing a great job, and the more people learn about Roy Moore, especially the fact he was engaged in this self-dealing through a charitable organization, the more they’re going to reject him and want somebody who can make Alabama proud.”

Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor

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