Democrats have so far coalesced around President Joe Biden in his 2024 presidential run in the hopes that he would win reelection over likely Republican nominee Donald Trump. But not everyone is convinced Biden can beat Trump in a rematch next year, giving other Democrats with presidential aspirations a possible opening.
Rep. Dean Phillips, a Democratic congressman in Minnesota, said on a podcast Friday that he is thinking about running.
“I haven’t ruled it out,” said Phillips, according to Fox News. He said that there are other people “who are more proximate, better prepared to campaign with national organizations, national name recognition, which I do not possess.”
But, he said, “I’m concerned that there is no alternative.”
Why is Dean Phillips considering running?
Phillips noted that a well-functioning democracy needs “to have choices, to have competition, particularly in light of what I’m reading — the polling, the data — and what I’m sensing in my own intuition, and I’m concerned.”
So far, Biden isn’t faring well in the polls. Most voters are opposed to a rematch between Biden and Trump.
The latest ABC News/Washington Post survey found that 62% of Democrats say they want their party to pick someone other than Biden as the nominee, while only one-third say they back Biden. But so far, the Democratic National Committee is choosing not to host a primary debate this year.
This isn’t the first time Phillips has called for a more competitive race. He told NBC News in August that he would love for Biden to “pass the torch.”
“I would like to see a moderate governor, hopefully from the heartland, from one of the four states that Democrats will need,” he said.
He continued, “Anybody who wants to run, Joe Manchin, Cornel West ... that’s why we have primaries because that doesn’t undermine the likelihood of returning, in this case, a Democrat to the White House. I’m actively inviting, encouraging to some degree, imploring, that people who are ready and know it’s probably time to do so take the chance.”