WASHINGTON — To Rep. Dean Phillips, his loss to President Biden in the New Hampshire primary election is a sign his insurgent campaign is working.
Phillips had said his goal was to win at least 20% of the vote in the Granite State, and he appeared to clear that bar after spending a lot of effort and money — at least $1 million out of his own pocket.
So, Phillips, 55, plans to continue his challenge to Biden, 81, whom he thinks is too old and unpopular to beat former President Donald Trump, the GOP front-runner, in a rematch.
“Are you ready to keep this baby going because I sure am,” Phillips asked supporters at an election watch party in Manchester, New Hampshire, that had the atmosphere of a victory party.
The ever-optimistic Phillips, in his third term representing Minnesota’s 3rd congressional district, said his 20% or so of the vote was a notable political accomplishment because it was earned by an unknown congressman who stepped into the presidential race in October.
“I’ve built businesses and brands and studied the best successes in marketing history. Never known one that generated 20% market share in just 10 weeks, as we did last evening in New Hampshire. We’re just getting started!” Phillips said in a Wednesday morning post on X.
On Tuesday evening, he congratulated Biden for winning the primary, but said “in no way was that a strong showing by an incumbent president.”
Biden was not even on the ballot in New Hampshire and never campaigned in the state because it defied the Democratic National Committee, which preferred that South Carolina hold the first Democratic presidential primary this year.
Yet CNN called Biden the winner just minutes after the polls closed because the president was expected to win handily with write-in votes, and Biden did. With 95% of the vote tallied, Biden had won 53.3%, Phillips had garnered 19.6% and self-help author Marianne Williamson took 4.6% while the rest of the votes went to a number of lesser-known candidates on the Democratic ballot.
Tough stretch ahead
While Phillips assured supporters waving placards that said “Courage” that he would run against Biden until the end of the primary season, the path forward is politically treacherous.
Phillips failed to file for the Nevada caucuses, and Florida, North Carolina, Tennessee and Wisconsin have either left him off the ballot or canceled their primaries because only Biden had met their filing deadlines.
But the next big contest is on Feb. 3 in South Carolina, a state that gave Biden the boost he needed over his Democratic primary rivals in 2020 and where Philips is likely to fare worse than he did in New Hampshire. While Phillips plans to run in South Carolina, his campaign plans to spend more time and resources in Michigan, which holds its primary on Feb. 27.
Intra-party insurgencies are rarely successful at the presidential level, but they can weaken an incumbent. On the stump, one of Phillips’ favorite words is “coronating,” accusing the Democratic Party of rejecting all competitors in favor of the incumbent president.
There’s also the question of money. While Phillips is a wealthy businessman and has shown a willingness to self-fund his political campaigns, the race for the White House will cost more than he can afford. However, according to The Washington Post, a group of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs aligned with Phillips have funded the We Deserve Better PAC that raised about $4 million to help Phillips in New Hampshire.
Activist hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman, who has said he is concerned the Democrats will nominate a candidate who cannot win, has also pledged to help the Phillips campaign.
After the polls in New Hampshire determined he had lost, Phillips said he was “having so much durned fun I don’t know what to do” and may have enough campaign money to continue for a while.
“This is the beginning of a movement,” Phillips assured his supporters on Tuesday night.
