MY ENDORSEMENT OF DEAN PHILLIPS
President Biden said in 2020 that he was going to be the bridge to the next generation.
Today that is exactly what we need. Joe Biden is at 38% approval, an historic low and a full 10 points lower than Barack Obama was at the same time. He is down by 4 in Wisconsin, down by 8 in Georgia, and down by 8 in Michigan, all swing states that Joe won in 2020. He is down by 9 in North Carolina, virtually tied in Minnesota, I could go on and on.
There are people who say that Joe Biden has been down before and that he can win again. There are a number of reasons to think this optimism is misplaced. First, the Biden campaign already spent $25 million on advertising in the swing states trying to bump up the President’s numbers by making people feel better about the economy. The impact? Zero. People have made up their minds about this economy and this President, and an ad campaign will not fix this.
Second, the President is 81. All of the things that a candidate must do to be successful – travel, project energy, rally, meet voters, conduct interviews, call surrogates – all of them will be more difficult with an older candidate whose team will be concerned about him stumbling, literally or figuratively, at every turn. The candidate matters! It will be hard to reinvent grandpa.
Third, this campaign is undermining the President’s greatest strength. What is Joe’s superpower? It is that he is a good man whom many of us believe will try to do the right thing for the country. He is failing the George Washington test that he referenced recently in his Valley Forge speech – knowing when to pass the baton and walk away. His spirit of service has become ego and stubbornness that are leading us toward disaster. Sometimes, the highest form of leadership is stepping aside.
Poll after poll shows that a generic Democrat defeats Trump by 6 or 8 points, the same polls that show Joe losing by 3 or 4. Joe recently said that 50 Democrats could defeat Donald Trump. He is right – and one of them, Dean Phillips, the only one to step up, is standing beside me right now.
In a time of deep distress against Trump, the wrong plan is to run a terribly unpopular 81 year old incumbent who is down in polls both nationally and in the swing states that matter.
Why hasn’t Joe gotten more competition? Here’s why. Joe Biden appointed Jaime Harrison of South Carolina the Chair of the DNC. There are only 2 decisionmakers here – Joe Biden and the man he appointed. Everyone else has been told to fall in line, and they are doing so even as it is leading us toward a 2nd disastrous, calamitous loss to Donald Trump.
I went to New Hampshire today to formally endorse Dean Phillips for President of the United States. Here’s my speech from Hanover:
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