MINNEAPOLIS— When Democratic U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips launched a lengthy bid for the White House last fall, the campaign gained no traction or goodwill from his party.
But he challenged President Joe Biden’s nomination anyway because he felt Biden could not beat Donald Trump, which was typical at the time this November’s election as an “emergency” and urging Biden, then 81, to pass the torch to a new generation of leaders.
President Biden eventually dropped out, and the rest is history. So Phillips feels like saying, “I told you so?”
“Obviously it wouldn’t be human not to have some of those feelings, but that’s not my style and that resentment has never served me well,” Phillips said in an interview with WCCO on Wednesday. “And for those who said things [about my campaign]including some elected officials here in Minnesota, they knew the truth when they said those things, and they have to live with that.
While running for president, the three-term congressman announced he would not seek re-election to his seat representing the Third District, which includes western Hennepin County and parts of Anoka County. Fellow Democrat Kelly Morrison, a former senator and OBGYN who is a high school classmate of Phillips, will succeed him, and now he is preparing for life outside Washington.
But he thinks the nation’s capital would have looked different — starting with a Democrat in the White House — if there had been a competitive primary to choose a candidate and Biden hadn’t dropped out with little more than 100 days to go until election day.
“If we had pursued a competitive primary, we absolutely would have put forward a candidate who was better positioned to win. There’s no question about that,” said Phillips, who characterized his campaign as a late effort after others failed to mount a challenge . “I have made private calls to candidates who are much better known than me and were ready to enter a presidential contest with the support and network in place, and I have made public calls for others to join these primaries. None of them were heeded. .
“And I now know why, because if you take that opportunity, if you run against an incumbent in a primary, you will probably never get another chance because the party will attack you,” he continued.
According to an analysis by CBS News, most counties in the country have shifted to President-elect Trump compared to 2020.
CBS news
Phillips noted that the headwinds Democrats face — high prices, a border crisis — were a challenge, but he faulted Democrats for not addressing why Americans were angry about these issues.
He said Trump offered change that the Democratic ticket did not, and he believes this is a reflection that Americans are fed up with the status quo.
“One candidate promised change. Do I think most people who voted for Donald Trump know what they’re getting? Yeah, a bull in a china shop,” Phillips said. “He’ll do some things that will probably be good for this country. He’ll probably do some things that will have major negative consequences. But at the end of the day, this is what it comes down to.”
Phillips said he is grateful to his constituents for the opportunity to serve them over the past five years. He ruled out a bid for the U.S. Senate or the governor’s office in 2026 and said another presidential campaign is unlikely if Democrats look for a nominee in 2028.
But “never say never,” he joked.
But for now, he hopes to encourage others to get involved in their communities and run for office, too.
“I will be free to speak the truth, spend my time where I think it can best be used, and actually accomplish some things because the system I am leaving prevents me from doing so,” he said.
