Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said Thursday that Senate Democrats “welcome support” from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton in the 2018 midterm elections.
When asked Thursday whether the Senate Democratic campaign arm welcomes involvement from two key former senators — Hillary Clinton and former President Barack Obama — Van Hollen replied in the affirmative. He also did so when asked later about the 42nd president.
“We welcome support from everybody who wants to help, including Secretary Clinton and President Obama,” Van Hollen told reporters at a breakfast hosted by the Christian Science Monitor.
“Yes,” Van Hollen said when asked later if they welcome Bill Clinton specifically. “As the head of the DSCC, we welcome those individuals and everybody that wants to help.”
The Maryland Democrat noted that while the DSCC welcomes their involvement, it’s up to each campaign to determine whether they want them involved.
“Those are not decisions the DSCC gets involved in,” Van Hollen said. “Those are decisions that are left to every campaign and they can talk to anybody who wants to help and decide who should come to the state and when.”
Clinton has started to ratchet up her 2018 involvement over the past couple of weeks. Just this week, she endorsed New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Stacey Abrams, the former Democratic leader in the Georgia House who won the Democratic gubernatorial primary on Tuesday.
Compared to the 2016 Democratic nominee, Obama has been silent by comparison on the 2018 circuit. However, he waded in during the late stages of the 2017 gubernatorial contests in Virginia and New Jersey — both won by Democrats — and remains popular with voters.
Clinton also has her outside political group, Onward Together, which Van Hollen says is an “important effort” on the 2018 scene.
“I think she’s going to continue to reach out to candidates and let them know that she’s ready to help in any way that she can,” Van Hollen stated. “These are really conversations that go on between Secretary Clinton or President Obama and the particular campaign.”
Meanwhile, Bill Clinton has been notably absent from the political scene, especially since the dawn of the #MeToo movement and talk about his past misconduct with women.
