Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips filed his longshot presidential bid against President Joe Biden in New Hampshire Democratic primary on Friday.
Phillips stated on his Concord campaign bus that he had to fight Biden, whom he termed a “terrific president,” because he believed the incumbent would lose a general election rematch to former President Donald Trump. He urged Biden to transmit the torch and other Democratic contenders to run in the primary, the congressman said. He entered the race after those failed.
“Change is needed. Phillips told, “I’m hearing that nationwide.” This wasn’t about me. But my inability to attract other candidates and encourage the president to recognize the time compels me to serve my country because President Joe Biden appears to lose the next election.”
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The third-term congressman, who quit his House Democratic leadership position due to intra party dissatisfaction over his calls for a Biden alternative, has maintained for months that the president’s age and poor approval ratings make him a weak general election candidate. He launched his candidature as Democrats aim to unite around Biden, fend off spoiler independents, and showcase the administration’s accomplishments. His running is a distraction that would reveal the president’s weaknesses, according to Biden friends.
Phillips and his crew say they will confront Biden beyond New Hampshire. Phillips told Concord reporters Friday morning that running for national attention would be “foolish.”
“If someone wanted their name ID out there, why would they take the arrows, mean-spiritedness, aggression, and sacrifice?” he said.
Democratic Campaign:
Phillips’ campaign adviser, veteran Republican operative Steve Schmidt, told reporters Friday that the congressman planned to hold more than 119 town halls in the early-voting Democratic primary states of New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Michigan.
“If you want to be the Democratic nominee, the first thing you have to do is win the first race,” Schmidt said Friday. Schmidt served in George W. Bush and John McCain’s presidential campaigns before leaving the GOP in 2018.
Phillips will criticize Biden in a Friday morning speech on the New Hampshire State House steps.
“Chaos at our border and in our cities are growing, while our commitment to countering them is receding,” the Minnesota congressman would remark, a campaign official said.
Phillips’ campaign strategy is already causing party issues. Biden will not run in the New Hampshire Democratic primary because the state isn’t following the national party’s amended nomination calendar, which lowered its first-in-the-nation rank to second. Democrats will run a write-in presidential campaign.
Phillips’ participation makes that effort more essential to New Hampshire Democrats, who want to avoid Biden’s embarrassing early primary loss. According to Ad Impact, Phillips has reserved $50,000 in state ad time this week.
Phillips’ first campaign ad emphasizes the New Hampshire primary. In the minute-long video, he recalls his summer travels to the state as a boy and praises its longstanding practice of retail politics for presidential candidates, which Biden won’t pursue.
New Hampshire:
“I love New Hampshire,” he says. I’m running for president again because of it. Where presidential candidates meet voters in the snow, listen to their hopes and concerns, and most importantly, discuss how we can work together to move forward.”
Phillips’ path would be steeper outside New Hampshire. Schmidt said Phillips will focus on small-dollar donations and not self-fund his campaign, even though he spent his tens of millions of dollars to “get the ball rolling” on it.
Phillips admits he lacks the name familiarity of other Democratic presidential candidates like California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. “If you want to be the Democratic nominee, the first thing you have to do is win the first race,” Schmidt said Friday. Schmidt served in George W. Bush and John McCain’s presidential campaigns before leaving the GOP in 2018.
Criticism on Biden:
Phillips will criticize Biden in a Friday morning speech on the New Hampshire State House steps.
“Chaos at our border and in our cities are growing, while our commitment to countering them is receding,” the Minnesota congressman would remark, a campaign official said.
Phillips’ campaign strategy is already causing party issues. Biden will not run in the New Hampshire Democratic primary because the state isn’t following the national party’s amended nomination calendar, which lowered its first-in-the-nation rank to second. Democrats will run a write-in presidential campaign.
Phillips’ participation makes that effort more essential to New Hampshire Democrats, who want to avoid Biden’s embarrassing early primary loss. According to Ad Impact, Phillips has reserved $50,000 in state ad time this week.
After the Democratic National Committee tried to move South Carolina forward with the primary date, Obama focused on New Hampshire, which might disadvantage him in the February 3 race.
“South Carolina is an important testing ground for presidential candidates, and so far, Dean Phillips is failing it,” said South Carolina Democratic Party Chair Christal Spain. “South Carolina could not be more excited to once again choose President Biden.”
Phillips said he’s excited to visit South Carolina and was “disappointed” Democrats would call New Hampshire campaigning “somehow shameful”.
“That’s unfortunate,” he replied. “And I think that’s a symptom of politics’ disease that I hope to cure.”
Demands new leadership:
Phillips, one of hundreds who helped Democrats win the House in 2018, was a mild-mannered centrist until lately. Phillips’ first campaign focused on preserving the Affordable Care Act and solving government dysfunction. He is the grandson of “Dear Abby,” the late advice columnist.
Over the past year, he’s been the most prominent member of his party to urge Biden not to run again, stressing that the party needs new leaders.
He lost party support for that stance. Dean Phillips resigned as co-chair of the House Democratic Policy and Communications Committee, which handles the caucus’s messaging, earlier this month after being called out in a closed-door meeting for being out of step with the party’s Biden reelection bid.
He tried to contact Biden in August, but the president was unavailable, a source said. Phillips instead spoke to White House top of staff Jeff Zients, who “heard him out,” the source said, but indicated the “president is the right person to win in 2024 and finish the job.”
Phillips told Biden he approached him “as a courtesy to advise him of my intentions, which at that time were to call for a new generation of candidates to compete for the nomination.”
His call with Zients was “brief but friendly.”
The reception at home is cold:
Biden campaign fundraising email, Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz said Minnesotans do “crazy things” like “make political sideshows for themselves”.
In addition, Minnesota loves Joe Biden and works hard to reelect him, the note stated.
For his suburban Twin Cities seat, DNC Executive Committee member Ron Harris is challenging Phillips in the primary. Philips must register to run for reelection in Minnesota by June 4, before the August 13 non presidential primary.
After quitting leadership, Phillips felt “liberated” to talk freely.
He has maintained for months that Biden is a terrific president, but polls show voters are concerned about his age and give him low job approval.
I don’t see how one can ignore everything they hear, see, sense, and read. After leaving leadership, Phillips told that it all speaks to the same thing. “If Democrats don’t listen now, I’m afraid there will be another Trump administration.”
In a September poll, two-thirds of Democrats favoured a non-Biden nominee.
Most Democrats (67%), however, expected Biden to be the nominee, and 82% did not choose a presidential candidate.
Worried Democratic Leaders:
Nearly half of Democrats are worried about Biden’s 2024 candidature due to his age.
Phillips encouraged other Democratic leaders to compete in the primaries after Biden announced his second term in April. He discussed a bid with New York donors in July.
Phillips contacted New Hampshire politicians, sparking 2024 campaign rumours. Dean Phillips for President bus was photographed going through Ohio this week, likely headed to New Hampshire.
Biden led the nomination race after raising $71 million for his reelection and the Democratic Party in Q3 2023.
The DNC unanimously endorsed Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and their 2024 reelection in February. This cycle has no primary debates for incumbents, as they had in the past.
Challengers have limited room. Since March, long-shot Democratic contender Marianne Williamson has failed to get into the polls.
Early this month, environmental lawyer and vaccine opponent Robert F. Kennedy Jr. abandoned the Democratic primary to run as an independent, generating concerns that he would favour Republicans over Biden. Allies of former President Donald Trump, the GOP frontrunner for 2024, worry the Kennedy campaign may boost Biden.
The White House says Phillips has always voted with the president and hasn’t criticised his policies in Congress.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Tuesday, “We appreciate the congressman’s almost 100% support of this president as he’s moved forward with some really important, key legislative priorities for the American people.
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