CONCORD, N.H. — For months, Dean Phillips has been calling for a Democratic primary challenge to President Joe Biden. He's drawn no public interest from governors, lawmakers, and other would-be alternatives.
Phillips may also benefit from New Hampshire Democrats angry at Biden for diluting their state’s influence on the 2024 Democratic primary calendar, a change that state party chairman Ray Buckley has warned could create a “potential embarrassment” by “an insurgent candidate, serious or not.” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also noted earlier in the week Phillips’ voting record and said, “We appreciate the congressman’s almost 100% support of this president.” And, though Biden won’t officially run in New Hampshire's primary and will be requiring a write-in campaign. the president is planning to head next week to Phillips’ home state for an official event and fundraiser.
In 1968, another Minnesotan, Democratic Sen. Eugene McCarthy, built his campaign around opposing the Vietnam War and finished second in New Hampshire’s primary, helping push President Lyndon Johnson into forgoing a second term. Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy's challenge of President Jimmy Carter and Pat Buchanan's run against President George H.W. Bush both failed, but Carter and Bush ultimately lost their reelection bids.
“I like Biden and have a lot of respect for him. But I’m disappointed that he and the DNC have tried to take away our primary,” Shurtleff said. “It’s not that I want to see Joe lose. It’s that I want to see our primary win.” Phillips is heir to his stepfather’s Phillips Distilling Company empire, which holds major vodka and schnapps brands. He once served as that company’s president but also ran the gelato maker Talenti. His grandmother was the late Pauline Phillips, better known as the advice columnist “Dear Abby.”