{"id":46943,"date":"2023-11-12T14:41:13","date_gmt":"2023-11-12T14:41:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/innodebt.com\/politics\/defying-democratic-pushback-dean-phillips-vows-to-invest-millions-in-his-primary-challenge-to-biden\/"},"modified":"2023-11-12T14:41:15","modified_gmt":"2023-11-12T14:41:15","slug":"defying-democratic-pushback-dean-phillips-vows-to-invest-millions-in-his-primary-challenge-to-biden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/innodebt.com\/?p=46943","title":{"rendered":"Defying\u00a0Democratic pushback, Dean Phillips vows to\u00a0invest\u00a0millions in his primary challenge to Biden"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n Rep. Dean Phillips is escalating his long-shot presidential primary challenge to President Joe Biden, vowing to invest as much of his multimillion-dollar fortune as it takes to win.\n <\/p>\n

\n His defiance comes in the face of overwhelming rejection from his fellow Democrats, a reaction so fast and furious Phillips believes he\u2019s torpedoed his own congressional career.\n <\/p>\n

\n But instead of backing down, Phillips is opening the door to super PAC money that could air millions of dollars\u2019 worth of negative ads in primary states that are likely pivotal in the general election, including Michigan and New Hampshire. And he\u2019s escalating his attacks against the president\u2019s message and political standing.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cI think in 2020, (President Biden) was probably the only Democrat who could have beaten Donald Trump. I think in 2024, he may be among the only ones that will lose to him. And that\u2019s why I\u2019m doing this,\u201d Phillips told CNN in a lengthy interview Saturday.\n <\/p>\n

\n Phillips says he\u2019s likely tanked his future in Democratic politics by taking on Biden in\u00a0what his critics say is a quixotic presidential primary challenge.\u00a0But the angry reactions from his own party seem to motivate him.\n <\/p>\n

\n Biden\u2019s\u00a0\u201capproval numbers are historically low, rivaling only Jimmy Carter,\u00a0who got slaughtered, of course, in that election,\u201d Phillips said, referring to President Carter\u2019s general election loss in 1980 after he faced a primary challenge from Democratic Sen. Ted Kennedy. \u201c[Carter] had a Democratic primary challenger because he was going to get slaughtered in the election. It\u2019s the same circumstance again. Ted Kennedy did not cause Jimmy Carter\u2019s problems. I did not cause President Biden\u2019s problems.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n And Phillips launched a direct attack on\u00a0one of the core messages of Biden\u2019s reelection campaign: \u201cBidenomics is not working. It is actually the opposite. It represents inflation, high prices,\u201d he said.\n <\/p>\n

\n Phillips has been campaigning against Biden for just over two weeks, and in that time he\u2019s seen many of his fellow Democrats rise up against him. He\u00a0left his leadership post in the House of Representatives after he was criticized during a private caucus meeting. He would face multiple primary<\/a> challengers<\/a> should he run again in Minnesota. And he\u2019s taken heat from the powerful Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, who said Phillips is disrespecting the\u00a0Black voters who powered Biden\u2019s win and have been a bedrock constituency of the modern Democratic Party.\n <\/p>\n

\n Speaking to CNN in the library of the New Hampshire Institute of Politics, with\u00a0signs from campaigns\u00a0won and lost in\u00a0decades past adorning the walls behind him, Phillips compared himself to Sen. Eugene McCarthy, who famously came close to defeating incumbent Democratic President Lyndon Johnson in the 1968 New Hampshire primary. Many view McCarthy\u2019s run as a critical part of Johnson\u2019s ultimate decision not to run for reelection.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cI think what Gene McCarthy did in 1968 was actually helpful,\u201d Phillips said.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cI do believe Johnson would have lost, it opened the door to Bobby Kennedy, who\u00a0\u2014\u00a0had he not been assassinated\u00a0\u2014 absolutely, I believe,\u00a0would have won that election in 1968,\u201d Phillips said. \u201cAnd I think we need more of that kind of courage. People were willing to torpedo their own career, which I believe I\u2019ve done.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Asked Saturday by CNN if there was a limit to the dollar amount of his own considerable personal fortune he was willing to spend, he answered: \u201cNo.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n And when pressed about whether he would discourage super PACs from spending money on his behalf, he said: \u201cYou have to play by the rules until you can change them \u2026\u00a0I can\u2019t deny support from anybody.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Phillips is a political neophyte, elected to Congress in 2018 after, in his telling,\u00a0Donald Trump\u2019s election devastated his two daughters and inspired him to get involved. Before that, he had been running his family\u2019s alcohol business, and for a time ran the gelato company Talenti. He is worth as much as $77 million, according to financial disclosures.\n <\/p>\n

\n His affable personality quickly endeared him to colleagues, and he became the co-chair of the Democratic Policy and Communications Caucus.\n <\/p>\n

\n But\u00a0Phillips\u2019\u00a0presidential campaign so far has demonstrated a distinct lack of familiarity with the core power centers of the Democratic Party. Asked Saturday about his outreach to key groups representing Black voters\u2019 interests, including the Congressional Black Caucus, Urban League and NAACP, Phillips acknowledged he had not been in contact with any of them before he announced his campaign Oct. 27 or since.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cI\u2019ve only been at this two weeks. Of course I\u2019m going be speaking to everybody,\u201d he said.\n <\/p>\n

\n How\u00a0is his message distinct\u00a0from Biden\u2019s? Phillips said he differs from the president on border policy and would make people who need to claim asylum do it from their home countries. And\u00a0he\u00a0said he\u00a0would do more than Biden has done to improve affordability by letting Americans deduct essential expenses like clothes and groceries on their taxes.\n <\/p>\n

\n Phillips said he plans to campaign next in South Carolina, the state whose Black voters\u00a0helped send Biden to the Democratic nomination in 2020 after Clyburn endorsed the now-president. Then,\u00a0Phillips\u00a0says, he\u2019ll focus on Michigan, which votes\u00a0Feb. 27.\n <\/p>\n

\n If\u00a0after March 6\u00a0\u2013 known as \u201cSuper Tuesday,\u201d when dozens of delegates are up for grabs \u2013\u00a0Phillips\u00a0hasn\u2019t come out ahead, he says,\u00a0he\u2019ll get out of the race and campaign for the Democratic nominee.\n <\/p>\n

\n And he says he won\u2019t run as a third-party candidate.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cI\u2019m running in a primary. I\u2019m not doing what Cornel West is doing, not doing what Jill Stein is doing, not doing what Joe Manchin might do,\u201d\u00a0Phillips said.\u00a0\u201cIf the president beats me in New Hampshire and Michigan, all around the country, that\u2019s good. He looks strong. If I force the president to have to get out and campaign basically for the first time \u2014 because he didn\u2019t have to campaign in 2020 \u2014 and he appears well, and he debates and he\u2019s strong, makes a good case, that\u2019s good for him.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n He added: \u201cI could win this. I intend to win this. Or I could open the door for others who might be better positioned to beat Donald Trump.\u201d\n <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n