(The Center Square) – A Democratic Congressman has launched a surprise presidential campaign to challenge President Joe Biden for the Democratic 2024 nomination, saying Biden has done a good job but will likely lose to former President Donald Trump next year.
Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., a third-term Congressman, made the announcement Friday, a late addition to the Democratic field in which Biden is practically unopposed.
“I didn’t set out to enter this race,” Phillips wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, Friday morning. “But it looks like on our current course, the Democrats will lose and Trump will be our President again. President Biden is a good man and someone I tremendously respect. I understand why other Democrats don’t want to run against him, and why we are here. This is a last-minute campaign, but desperate times call for desperate measures, and courage is an important value to me.
“If President Biden is the Democratic nominee, we face an unacceptable risk of Trump being back in the White House,” he added. “I know this campaign is a long shot, but that is why I think it is important and worth doing.”
Real Clear Politics’ polling average shows that Trump, who continues to dominate his Republican challengers in the primary polling, has a real chance of beating Biden. The group’s polling average, which aggregates a range of recent polls, has Trump beating Biden in a general election matchup with 44.8% support to Biden’s 44.1% support.
Phillips laid out four key platforms his campaign will be based on: the economy, safety, generational change and less partisanship.
On the economy, Phillips stressed the need to bring down the cost of living. Inflation has soared in recent years, hiking the cost of a range of goods and services while wages have failed to keep up.
On safety, Phillips pointed to the lack of safety many Americans feel in their communities and pointed to the need for a focus on mental health and the drug crisis.
“…my campaign will be about the generational change the country wants and policies that invest in our future, our young people,” Phillips wrote on X.
Phillips, who said he decided to run because of his opposition to Trump, also called for a need for more bipartisanship in politics. To that end, he is proposing “term limits, campaign finance reform, and things like bipartisan cabinets.”
