My Endorsement of Dean Phillips
I went to New Hampshire today to formally endorse Dean Phillips for President of the United States. Here’s my speech from Hanover:
Hello New Hampshire, it’s great to be back! I went to high school here in the state and am going to speak at my alma mater tomorrow morning. And of course I spent months here campaigning 4 years ago and had a wonderful time.
The last 4 years have not been great. This is a difficult and trying time. Americans across the country are questioning whether our future will be brighter than our past.
Looming over this is our presidential race. Joe Biden has been an accomplished and substantial president. I endorsed him and voted for him in 2020 and was even a campaign surrogate. I’ve had the opportunity to meet and spend time with him and he is a good man, a true public servant and a great American.
While he was the right candidate 4 years ago, he is not now.
4 years ago, the Patriots were 12-4 and 1st in the AFC East. 2024 is not 2020.
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.
New Hampshire understands this self-dealing, as you are being punished right now by the DNC for holding a primary that you are required to hold by state law. You don’t control the state legislature and couldn’t make the change even if you wanted to. And this is a swing state! The DNC is failing the voters of this state and failing the country by stifling any competition, including canceling the primaries altogether in Florida and North Carolina, another swing state. They talk about championing democracy while crushing it just when we need it most.
For Gavin Newsom, Gretchen Whitmer, JB Pritzker and other prominent Democrats, you are missing your moment. The country needs you now, not in 2028. If Trump wins in November, what will be left for us in 2028? What matters more, your standing in the party or your country? We all know you want to run for President, and your time is right now. In 2028, you’ll also have Josh Shapiro and Wes Moore to contend with, and they won’t have missed their moment.
In this time of need, only one man decided to place his country over his political career, put his own conviction above the chattering class, and that is the man I am proud to endorse as the next President of the United States, 3-term Congressman from Minnesota Dean Phillips!!!
Dean has the character, vision and values to lead us to a new era in America.
Dean has led a successful business, building Talenti Gelato into a national brand.
After Trump won, Dean felt he had to do more for his two daughters and the country. He ran for Congress and flipped a red-leaning district that hadn’t been represented by a Democrat in over fifty years. No one thought he had a chance, but he ran a positive campaign with the slogan, “Everyone’s invited.” His last race he won by double-digits and he’s now in his third term. Dean has never lost a race.
I met Dean when he was in Congress two years ago at a campaign finance reform event where he despaired that all of his colleagues spent thousands of hours a week dialing for dollars. He was the only member who didn’t, figuring he was actually there to try to get things done. As you can imagine, I liked him immediately – imagine a member of Congress who doesn’t like calling donors and was willing to say so.
Dean is running for President not because it somehow serves his interests, but because it is the right thing to do. He was alarmed that we were sleepwalking toward disaster and called other leading Democrats asking them to run. While people agreed with him in private, in public they toed the party line. They put their careers ahead of the country. Only when no one else stepped up did Dean take on the challenge himself. He thought of his father who died in Vietnam in a helicopter crash serving our country. What would he do? Dean has now been accused of all sorts of things because that’s the politics of today, but his decision to run for President is among the most courageous acts I have seen in American life. His father would be proud.
Dean is all in. You know one reason why members of Congress generally make terrible presidential candidates? It’s because when the going gets tough they often double back to seek re-election to their current seat. Not Dean. He gave up a safe Congressional seat to try and save his country, giving up a promising career in party leadership out of duty. That is character, the kind of character that so many of our leaders today lack. If we had more people in Washington willing to upend their careers like Dean, we would be a much stronger country.
Dean has a compelling vision and motivation – to make America more affordable for working families. He knows that healthcare costs are the number one cause of bankruptcy in America – that’s why he signed a Medicare for All bill that would finally ensure that all Americans have access to quality care. He wants to have a baby bond of $1,000 for every child born in America that would grow to be significant by the time that child is 18. He wants to bring back the enhanced child tax credit that lifted millions of American families out of poverty. He wants to ease our housing crisis by building 7 million new housing units around the country. He wants to make college and vocational school alike cost-free so young people have a better shot at a brighter future.
These are the kind of goals that Americans of all parties and backgrounds can get excited about.
Dean will govern as a different kind of President who puts leadership ahead of the letter next to your name. Dean will recruit the best people to his administration, from both within and outside of the party and government. It is impossible to reunite and repair our country while we are divided into two warring factions for the amusement of the media and the political industrial complex. Dean will literally repair America with the most non-partisan bipartisan Cabinet anyone has ever seen.
Dean is not just for campaign finance reform but for open primaries, ranked choice voting and term limits. No one knows how dark the machinery is more than Dean. He may not seem like it because he’s such a congenial guy, but Dean has the potential to be the most transformative leader we have seen in our lifetimes.
I ran for President and know that the people of this country are much better than the leadership we are getting, that we are united in much more than the parties and the partisan media would have you believe.
To those on the left who are progressive, Dean is our best chance to pass universal healthcare, get baby bonds, make housing more affordable and alleviate meaningless suffering for millions of Americans.
To Democrats, Dean is our best chance to defeat Donald Trump once and for all and ensure that democracy persists and prevails.
To Independents, Dean is our best chance to put the people’s interests above the parties that separate and divide us and return government to the people.
To moderate Republicans, Dean is the 2nd most bipartisan member of Congress and will include you in the future as we move past Trump.
To journalists and influencers, wouldn’t you rather cover a real primary process rather than slump into the battle of the 80-year olds? Dean’s victory could be one of the greatest stories of this era.
To my friend Marianne Williamson, you have run a noble, courageous campaign and have articulated many of the things that Americans should expect and deserve. I ask you to join us in challenging the true enemy. The true enemy is the political establishment that does not care about our families and communities and a media cabal that will suppress or demonize those who want change on behalf of the people of this country. Marianne, Dean is our best chance to change things. I am looking forward to serving in his administration and I would love for you to join us.
For the voters of New Hampshire, I’ve met thousands of you over the years and I know how seriously you take the trust of this country to pick a President. What does your heart tell you is the right thing to do? Are we going to careen toward disaster, or will you save us and move the country forward in a new and better direction? Will we settle for politics as usual or will we try for something better? If you spend time with Dean, you will see that he has the makings of a tremendous President.
Dean is a sane, smart, pragmatic, 54-year old leader who wants to bring the country back together and improve our lives. He is unbeholden to the special interests who dominate our politics. He is the man for this moment. He is what most Americans – certainly most Independents who will decide our elections – want in a candidate. Most of all, he will win.
What do you think New Hampshire – do you want to help Dean win?
Me too. I’m proud to introduce the next President of the United States, Dean Phillips!
