Presidential campaign temperatures change rapidly and going back a month you’ll find that people paying attention to Congressman Dean Phillips (D-MN) — and it wasn’t very many — were knocking him for having the temerity to present a speed bump on President Biden’s glide path to the Democratic nomination. Now Phillips, who unplugged his run against Biden this week after failing to register significant support, is back on Team Biden and being welcomed, even by Biden himself.
Phillips, whose sense of humor along the way kept him in the relative good graces of many Democrats, wrote a strong endorsement of Biden that won a response from the President, who thanked Phillips and said “we need you with us.”
Former National Finance Chair of Draft Biden campaign, Jon Cooper, called Phillips’s move a “classy way to end your campaign, and much appreciated.”
Dean, thanks for the kind words.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) March 6, 2024
And welcome to the team. We need you with us. https://t.co/h4667SNAfC
Biden’s effort to build a coalition of those willing to “save democracy,” as he phrases it, means trying to build a big tent for Democrats that welcomes all sorts of non-traditional potential Democratic voters — especially those Republicans who’ve been left adrift by Donald Trump‘s MAGA ascendency, and the inability of GOP contender Nikki Haley to bring Trump down.
Biden also explicitly made a pitch to those Haley voters — whose numbers in GOP primaries were significant — after Haley suspended her campaign this week, writing:
“Donald Trump made it clear he doesn’t want Nikki Haley’s supporters. I want to be clear: There is a place for them in my campaign. I know there is a lot we won’t agree on. But on the fundamental issues of preserving American democracy, on standing up for the rule of law, on treating each other with decency and dignity and respect, on preserving NATO and standing up to America’s adversaries, I hope and believe we can find common ground.”
Statement From President Biden on Nikki Haley withdrawing from the Republican presidential primary pic.twitter.com/rBsQiNSJkH
— Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) March 6, 2024
