WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips, who said he made his decision to run against President Biden based largely on the president’s age, is now struggling to formulate a broader policy platform that would appeal to voters.
Besides taking pages from the GOP playbook and blaming Biden for discontent about the economy and for “chaos” at the U.S.-Mexico border, Phillips, D-3rd District, has veered towards populism, espousing “a tax the rich” policy and promising universal health care.
“Corporations and the well-off — including me — enjoy more favorable tax treatment than working families,” said Phillips, the heir to the Phillips Distilling fortune, in a speech earlier this month at Franklin Pierce University in Manchester, N.H.
Phillips also hinted at an isolationist foreign policy, which is more popular with GOP voters.
“We spend billions sending our soldiers to foreign lands and STILL haven’t fixed the failures in Flint,” Phillips said referring to the Michigan city that was found to have dangerously high levels of lead in its water.
Since announcing his candidacy, Phillips has spent much of the time stumping in New Hampshire and has also campaigned a little in South Carolina. New Hampshire will hold the first Democratic primary in the nation on Jan. 23. But because that primary was not sanctioned by the Democratic National Committee, which changed the primary calendar so South Carolina could go first, Biden won’t be on the ballot in New Hampshire.
That should give Phillips, who has decided not to run for reelection to Congress in favor of challenging Biden, an advantage. But his campaign that focused on the president’s age and on stoking Democratic fears that Biden would lose to Donald Trump has not generated enough support. So, Phillips is now trying to run on issues. The problem is that his platform is still in the works.
“We are currently working on fleshing out more detailed policy proposals,” said Phillips campaign spokeswoman Katie Dolan.
So, at this point, his policy proposals are vague.
“Imagine a future in which all Americans are invited and heard, and healthcare, housing, and education are available to all — not just the wealthy and well connected,” Phillips posted on X on Monday. “And imagine a future of economic security and peace — both at home and abroad. It’s possible. And it’s time.”
To Larry Jacobs, a political science professor at the University of Minnesota who directs the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance, Phillips’ campaign is a failure.
“He first encouraged other people to challenge Biden, then he entered the race himself saying ‘Biden is too old,’” Jacobs said. “None of that got traction. The latest iteration is that he’s trying to fashion an agenda on the fly.”
That, Jacobs said, seems out of character for the congressman who was known for his careful and thoughtful approach to issues.
“The old Dean Phillips would have devoted sufficient time and effort to develop serious policy proposals,” he said.
A mix of GOP ideas and Democratic proposals
Phillips, who was once the chairman of the board of a health care nonprofit, has made health care a cornerstone of his campaign. His campaign website says, “I believe it’s time we make the moral decision to ensure every American has affordable, high-quality healthcare, regardless of their age, condition, geography or ability to pay.”
But Phillips doesn’t detail how this expansion of health care would happen, other than to mention his support for a bill that would have allowed individuals and families to buy into the Medicaid program, which now serves low-income people, and that people who are covered under an employer health care plan could continue with their existing plan.
Phillips prides himself as a centrist Democrat and is running a campaign with inclusive messaging: “Everyone is invited” is his motto. Many of his policy positions, although still on the drawing table, try to merge GOP priorities with Democratic ones. As a member of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, Phillips often tried to bridge differences between Democrats and the GOP.
His position on immigration, for example, includes enhanced border security demanded by Republicans and also a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants currently in the United States, plus a streamlined process for those seeking to enter the country illegally — measures supported by liberal Democrats.
Phillips is a vigorous defender of abortion rights, like most Democrats, but also supports more federal funding and resources for police, a GOP priority.
Phillips launched his presidential campaign with the help of Steve Schmidt, a top adviser to the late John McCain when the senator ran for president. Schmidt has since left the campaign, which has recently hired advisers who worked for candidates with a progressive bent. They are Zach Graumann, the campaign manager for Andrew Yang when he ran for president in 2020, and Jeff Weaver, Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2016 campaign manager.
Phillips’ campaign did not respond to a request for an interview with the candidate.
Kicking Joe Biden while he’s down
Phillips’ record as a three-term member of the U.S. House is short.
Biden, meanwhile, has a long roster of accomplishments to run on. And his campaign advisers are shifting gears from touting the economy, which has created many new jobs, to acknowledging that inflation has hurt Americans while also celebrating that wages, especially among working-class voters who helped boost Donald Trump, are now rising faster than inflation.
Phillips has been supportive of Biden’s agenda, which will make it difficult to attack the president on policy. But he has taken advantage of Biden’s low poll numbers to advance the argument that the president would lose a rematch with Trump, who is now the GOP frontrunner.
“An overwhelming majority of Americans want neither leading candidate, and Joe Biden’s poll numbers, approval ratings, and standing among voters makes it almost impossible for him to win,” Phillips posted on X this week.
However, those same polls show Democrats, and a good number of independents, do like Biden’s policies.
Ross Baker, a political science professor at Rutgers University, said Phillips’ attacks on Biden will only hurt him in the upcoming Democratic primaries. Even as he said he believed the president did nothing wrong, Phillips told Semafor this week that the GOP impeachment inquiry into Biden could make him “unelectable.”
“Kicking Joe Biden while he’s down is not a spectacle Democrats want to see,” Baker said.
Baker also said “most serious Democrats and ‘leaners’ are very much in the president’s corner.”
He also said Phillips would not be able to beat Biden on policy.
“A series of position papers, no matter how well thought out, is just not going to do it,” Baker said.
Phillips initially said he would drop out of the race after Super Tuesday if he failed to gain traction, but he’s now talking about a longer race.
His campaign is facing some obstacles, though. Florida and North Carolina Democrats canceled their primaries rather than giving Phillips a chance to be on the ballot. That means Biden automatically receives all the delegates from those states.
The Phillips campaign said it was considering potential legal action, and last week a supporter filed a lawsuit in Florida asking a federal judge to order state election officials to put Phillips’ namer on the ballot along with Biden.
“Americans would expect the absence of democracy in Tehran, not Tallahassee,” Phillips said in a statement.
Florida canceled its primary after the executive committee of the state Democratic Party voted unanimously during an annual convention in Orlando to submit only Biden’s name to Florida election officials.
Regardless of whether Phillips manages to get on the ballot in Florida, Baker said his efforts are a waste of time.
“If he was really, truly interested in running for president, he should have started much earlier,” he said.
