Yesterday I wrote that the Dean Phillips' campaign for president was harmless, and maybe good for Democrats.
Most news articles and pundits disagree.
TV ads mocking Phillips write themselves. A Lincoln Project ad simply shows Phillips' earnest words of praise for Joe Biden.
"President Biden has delivered the most important thing this country has ever needed, and that is competency in lieu of chaos."
The ad ends with an image of a smiling Joe Biden saying, "Thanks for the endorsement."
Dean Phillips filed his candidacy for president in the New Hampshire primary. The filing upset the Biden and Democratic Party plan that Biden would run unopposed. An uncontested nomination would send a message to the public that the Democratic Party is unified. Even Republican partisans agree that there is division in the GOP, what with Trump, Speakership struggles in the House, MAGAs, old school "normies" Republicans, RINOs, and Liz Cheney.
Candidate Marianne Williamson wasn't a problem. Williamson is a glib spokesperson for spiritual wellness, not a serious candidate for president. Dean Phillips, though, is a sitting U.S. Representative. He attempted to get high-profile Democrats to file to replace Biden. When one did not, Phillips stepped in.
Reasonable news and opinion commentary has a consensus view that the Dean Phillips campaign is dangerous.
Lincoln Project people are posting tweets on "X" saying the Dean campaign has no purpose and will result in a Trump victory.
Politico's Steven Shepard wrote "Dean Phillips poses a real danger to President Joe Biden’s reelection next year — even though he doesn’t stand much of a chance of winning the Democratic nomination."
The HuffPost put this headline above a story by Ben Blanchet:
"Biden's Primary Challenger Unleashes Bizarre Claim On Why He's Running For President."
Washington Post opinion writer Henry Olson wrote about Phillips' "quixotic primary challenge."
The story by the NYTimes' Maggie Astor described Dean's campaign as "last-minute, long-shot" effort. She wrote that Democratic leaders, "are less than pleased."
The Hill headlines its story about the Phillips campaign with "Democrats voice concern, outrage over Phillips primary bid." It quotes an anonymous Democratic consultant saying, "the White House should be terrified."
Probably the loudest and most sustained applause I heard at the New Hampshire Leadership Summit was in response to Asa Hutchinson's answer to my question. I asked why he didn't drop out. He responded that New Hampshire voters decide who are legitimate candidates, not pollsters and pundits and the candidates themselves.
The Dean campaign will have a tailwind. New Hampshire voters resent the idea that Democrats are circumventing their "First In The Nation" primary status and are treating Biden as a fait accompli nominee. They want to make that decision themselves, not have it made by the DNC. A vote for Phillips is a protest vote to retain a status they treasure.
Thank you, Peter, for your spin on Phillips. One might think, after 2016 (and, frankly, 2008) that the Democratic establishment would understand the issues attendant to a candidate coronation, or the problems inherent in presenting anyone, even a sitting president, as inevitable. But oh, wait, this is the national Democratic Party... a group who has made snatching defeat from the jaws of victory a hobby.
I will vote for Biden. He's done good work. But he is not the future of the party. Neither of course, is Phillips. The problem is that the Dems, starting with Hillary Clinton, have no forward planning. Maybe they should. Who is our next Obama... an outsider who comes from left field? Do we have to wait for AOC to come of age?
Thanks Peter. My only concern about Phillips is who's urging him on. Is he just another Republican "dirty trick?" If so, Democrats will figure it out soon enough. Republicans in Oregon thought enough Democrats were dumb enough to fall for Betsy Johnson's bid for governor to split the vote, allowing Christine Drazan to win without the majority she'd never get in Oregon. That was a bust because Dems tend to "go home" when they mark their ballots. I think that will happen in this case as well.