The View from South Carolina
Hello, I hope that you had a great weekend.
I spent the weekend campaigning for Dean Phillips in South Carolina with Evelyn. We saw our old friend from 2020 Jermaine Johnson who led our efforts in the state before becoming a State Representative. I campaigned many times in the Palmetto State 4 years ago and people were glad to see me – they are very friendly and appreciate people who spend time with them.
We campaigned in Lexington and Columbia before attending the South Carolina Democratic Dinner, where both Dean and President Biden spoke. It was a flashback to the numerous cattle calls in 2020 where all of us candidates would give our stumps to various party leaders and activists, except this time only 2 candidates were in attendance: Dean Phillips and Joe Biden.
And it’s not exactly like there was equal billing. President Biden was flanked and introduced by a small legion of Secret Service and fabled Congressman Jim Clyburn, the last remaining Democrat in Congress from South Carolina and kingmaker in 2020, as well as Senator Chris Coons, Congressman Ro Khanna and many other party leaders. Gavin Newsom appeared earlier in the week to stump for Joe Biden and set himself up for 2028.
Dean gave a compelling speech to a crowd of 600 about him being there to win in November. It was awfully impressive given how much the deck was stacked against him in that hall. Everyone there should have been grateful for Dean, as he made the pageantry about an actual primary contest instead of a simple celebration and coronation of Joe Biden.
Indeed, I came away discouraged and somewhat enlightened – Joe Biden and Jim Clyburn had set up a forbidding firewall for any challengers, making South Carolina the first in the nation primary and daring anyone to try and contest the incumbent in Clyburn Country. An 83-year old political legend protecting an 81-year old President he brought to power from competition – good for them but is it good for the country?
Other prospective candidates saw this firewall and were daunted, feeling it more prudent to wait until 2028. Only Dean Phillips saw the writing on the wall for November and decided to act.
South Carolina Democrats will vote on Saturday, and I’m sure Joe Biden will win a resounding victory. But his victory will reflect an arrangement made months ago by a handful of powerful insiders, not how the President will fare when votes are cast by the whole country in 9 months. I fear that electability and winning a general election are distant concerns while political patronage and maintaining clout within the party are very much front and center. The Democratic Party is being set up to lose to Trump in November. Watching it unfold up close made my heart hurt.
If you’d like to see a better race in the Fall that will keep Trump from office go to dean24.com and get the word out about Dean Phillips.
