Van Hollen to Issue Statement, Appear with Raskin

Congressman Chris Van Hollen will issue a statement during a joint appearance with Jamie Raskin tomorrow morning. Raskin, a candidate for the State Senate (Dist 20), has been aggressively campaigning for the office currently held by long-time incumbent Ida Ruben. The race has been surprisingly contentious as Ruben, a fixture in the Senate has found herself in the unusual position of having to actually defend her seat.

The Van Hollen-Raskin joint appearance (and press avail) will be held tomorrow morning (10:30am) at the Takoma Park Farmers Market (intersection of Carroll and Laurel Avenues in Takoma Park).

Ruben has repeatedly made questionable, and many say inappropriate, attacks on Raskin and his supporters. These acts include blasting a group of high school students for endorsing Raskin in their school paper, sending out campaign literature disparaging Raskin for his constitutional law work and questioning his Democratic Party credentials, and misrepresenting Raskin's campaign financing.

This week Ruben distributed another suspect mailer depicting a smiling President George W Bush giving a thumbs-up gesture. The Ruben campaign superimposed the words "Thanks, Jamie" in a bubble coming from Bush's mouth, claiming that Raskin helped elect Bush. The same piece also reiterates many of the misleading and false claims of her earlier literature (from mid-August).

Van Hollen denounced Ruben's earlier mailer saying, "This kind of Karl Rove politics has no place in the Democratic Party. The voters should demand a clean and honest campaign."

Has Ruben's latest, desperate ploy finally pushed the popular Congressman to endorse Raskin? We'll find out tomorrow.

Tags: MD-20; Jamie Raskin; Ida Ruben; Chris Van Hollen