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.
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."
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.
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11 comments:
If the DNC considers Biden such a strong candidate, why are they so afraid of a competitor with no name recognition? The notion that Biden can’t handle a little competition is what makes him look weak. That, and his age.
If Trump were to somehow prevail in 2024, it won’t be Dean’s fault, or Biden’s either, but that of an electorate too ignorant to appreciate the legacy our Founding Fathers left us. Considering the number of people drawn to Trump’s anger, hatred and criminality, maybe we don’t deserve a democracy.
LP: Get a clue, he’s not attacking Biden. If you say what needs to be said as earnest loyal opposition, be prepared to be called crazy, bizarre, racist, etc.
Dark Brandon has no clothes.
—Clean for Dean
During an interview with NewsNation’s Elizabeth Vargas aired on Friday’s “Elizabeth Vargas Reports,” 2024 presidential candidate Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN) stated that while he voted for President Joe Biden’s policies, we do have “a massive” affordability crisis, and “We have a border crisis. We have crime in cities and chaos.”
I suspect that in 6 months, people will still be asking "Dean Who"?
I believe Steve Schmidt is behind this, and I've never forgiven him for inflicting Sara Palin on the Country.
I would prefer a younger more vibrant Campaigner than the Incumbent, but it seems he is what we we've got, so I'm with Joe.
The Lincoln Project is a nest of smug, weaselly self-promoters. Heavy, hip, muckraking pronouncements are their stock in trade, with ultimate accuracy a secondary consideration. Co-founder Steve Schmidt infamously brayed in October 2016 that Hillary was trending over 400 electoral votes. He left The Project amid a nasty sex scandal and coverup to tilt with lightweight Meghan McCain, leaving smarmy vulgarians like Rick Wilson in charge. This is the worst of the political intelligentsia. Deano!
Adjectives:
Smug, weasels, heavy, hip, muckraking, secondary, nasty, lightweight, smarmy, worst, electoral, political.
LD’s post wins the prize for the richest concentration of adjectives ever submitted to this blog in its eight year history of accepting comments.
I will mark LD as “undecided” on the Lincoln Project. :)
Peter Sage
Dudgeon levels appear to be rising! 😀
Hemingway is my idol.
1. Exactly. I was joking.
2. They aren't even Never Trump Republicans.
1. LOL (I'm joking).
2. During the 2020 presidential election, the Lincoln Project aimed to prevent the re-election of Trump and to defeat incumbent Republican candidates running for re-election who had been loyalists to Trump. In April 2020, the committee endorsed Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.
Mike, at their core they are Republicans, first and foremost. If they actually put the Country ahead if their own welfare Former Halfterm Governor Palin would never have helped sink John McCain, and might have been able to grift her way into a second term as Governor of Alaska.
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