MSNBC "The Ed Show" - Transcript

Interview

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REP. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN (D-MD), CHAIRMAN, DCCC: Good to be with you, Ed.

SCHULTZ: I believe that there"s a talk-down culture that"s being developed by the right-wing talkers that this is over, the takeover in the House has taken place. I want it straight from you.

Are there actually a hundred races that are in play that the Democrats could actually lose? What do you think of that?

VAN HOLLEN: No, Ed, it"s nonsense. I mean, they"re talking about seats like John Dingell. John Dingell is well ahead.

They"re just trying to do exactly what you said. They"re trying to suppress the Democratic vote turnout, and it"s not working, because what we"ve seen from some of these early returns in states like Indiana and Iowa and North Carolina is that the Democrats are voting in larger numbers than were predicted by all these pundits. They"re proving the pundits wrong in the vote by mail, as well as the early in-person voting, and that"s because voters get it.

They get the fact that all these corporations are dumping money, the secret money, into these races because they want to buy a Congress that will do the bidding of the special interests and enact things like the Republican plan to privatize Medicare and privatize Social Security.

SCHULTZ: Yes.

VAN HOLLEN: They"ll make a lot of money off of that.

SCHULTZ: What do you make of the early voting that"s taken place? Over three million Democrats across the country have already gone to the polls. A lot of voting.

Of course, this is going to be a big weekend in Harry Reid"s state, obviously. But in some key districts around the country, like in Ohio and in the Rust Belt, ,where the unemployment has hit and manufacturing jobs have been gone, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin, what about the turnout to vote? What about the early voting?

How important is that going to be for the Democrats?

VAN HOLLEN: Well, it"s very important, because early voting gives more people an opportunity to get to the polls. Working people who, you know, work a morning shift and a night shift, this allows them that longer period of time to vote, to exercise their right to get out there and cast their ballot.

And what we"re seeing again, Ed--I mean, obviously it"s preliminary, but it"s very positive--is that the Democrats are, number one, asking for ballots in greater numbers than their numbers would suggest in many of these districts, and they"ve begun to return them in greater numbers.

So, all this stuff, all of this voter suppression effort, is not working. And people are really focusing on the stakes in this election.

I think that"s what happened, is, look, you"ve had the Tea Party movement, they"ve been complaining for 20 months, while, you know, the president and the Congress have been working hard to try to get the country back on its feet after eight years of special interests running the show. And now people get it --

SCHULTZ: Yes.

VAN HOLLEN: -- because they see all of those special interests that have had their power reined in trying to buy back a Congress.

SCHULTZ: It sure looks like the White House gets it. It sure looks like Bill Clinton gets it. It sure likes like Joe Biden gets it.

I mean, you have got three of the most visible Democrats working as hard as I have ever seen Democrats work. You"d think that this was a presidential.

Now, we"ve seen the president go around the country, and there is some rebounding taking place. Are you seeing this in some of the House races where President Obama"s having an effect as well?

VAN HOLLEN: Yes, indeed, Ed. We"re seeing that enthusiasm rise. And again, it"s reflected in some of the early voting patterns that we"re seeing.

We"re getting great turnouts to--for all of our volunteer canvasses around the country. So the energy is there.

It may have come a little late to the game, but the fact of the matter is, it"s coming out now in big numbers. And so we"re very, very positive about what"s happening right now.

As you said, the president, the former president, everybody"s out there, our candidates are out there. And people are very--you know, when people think about what it would mean to have Joe Barton, the guy who apologized to BP when we held them accountable, to have him in charge of the energy policy, or to have the guys who wrote the plan to privatize Medicare, which would be great for the insurance industry, but very lousy for seniors, when they realize what"s at stake, they are getting energized and mobilized. And it"s just important that we get that story out so we put an end to these tax breaks that have benefited the multinational corporations that ship American jobs overseas and that kind of thing.

Those special interests are fighting back. People don"t like what they see. They don"t like all this secret money. And it"s been a wakeup call.

SCHULTZ: Congressman, good to have you with us tonight. Have a great weekend. I appreciate your time.

VAN HOLLEN: Good to be with you, Ed. Thank you.

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