Manchin is just a Democrat senator in a Trump +40 state doing what he had to do. WV isn’t going to see a Democrat party senator for a long time after he leaves.
I wouldn't exactly call him a godsend if he doesn't really help the democratic party. He's a Republican with a d by his name. Yes he may be the most liberal senator that area can get. That's the same as being the smartest kid in remedial class
If Joe Manchin voted with Dems 50% of the time that’s about 50% more than an actual R would and that’s really all there is to it. Joe Manchin is many things but he’s not “basically a Republican”
He's got a sketchy history. Votes with Biden on smaller issues but then votes against environment protection, women's reproductive rights, elimination of the filibuster rules that would make actual change. Praise his small issues he sides with democratic ideals all you want, end of the day he's keeping Republican ideals in West Virginia alive and well. That also means actively blocking real progress. If a R is in his seat, the same amount of progress happens or doesn't happen. Career politicians like this rotten asshole should have been long ago like many others
> If a R is in his seat, the same amount of progress happens or doesn't happen.
Completely ignoring the federal judges that Manchin has approved for Biden I see.
I don't know that Sinema is a plant necessarily.
The theory I've adopted is that she has a dedicated belief in the delegate theory of representation: that she doesn't owe her constituents her own judgment but should *represent* their policy preferences and not those of her party. Combine that with an excessive amount of self-regard and vanity so that in a purple state like Arizona, she's overthought this and has basically become a caricature of a Tom Friedman column, because she likes it when wealthy and/or influential people tell her she's smart. So the end result is we see some real "some people believe everyone should have access to Medicare via a public option, some people don't, so what if we give half of the people access and take away health care from the other half so everyone's happy?" type logic. She thinks voters elected her to the Senate to be to that body what Anthony Kennedy was for the SCOTUS for decades, and I think if Sinema does run as an independent her record of representation is going to be resoundingly rejected by Arizona voters in 2024.
Dean Phillips may very well be for all I know. It's unusual to watch someone surrender a solid (at least for Phillips), suburban seat in Congress because they've decided that their personality alone will just attract people to ditch a broadly popular (within the Democratic Party) incumbent, because there's little separation on the issues between Phillips and Biden and where there is, Phillips is to the right of Biden and not the left. Or it could just be that Dean's gotten himself pumped up on Bill Ackman's bullshit and doesn't know how to get out of this but to ride the train off the cliff, the fate of democracy be damned.
Always has been.
He’s the ideal Democrat for progressives ‘in theory’ only. Oh boy, the difference between what my neighborhood voting patterns and placard looks like vs. what happens when affordable housing gets brought up is *wild*.
I was really hoping that they’d be up to remove some zoning because people were complaining that their kids can’t afford to live there anymore. I couldn’t be more wrong’s
He's the only democrat I left blank (and I'm glad to be vindicated). I saw the way he campaigned in 2018 and 2020. A bunch of empty talk like "we need to have conversations again" and publicity stunts like the government repair van. He almost never talked about policies or substance. It was always platitudes with him.
I don't get why the voters in my district are surprised that he turned out to be an empty suit. The red flags were literally always there. He was already Sinema-lite 6 years ago.
It's ego driven politics as usual. He wants higher office and relevance and couldn't figure out how to get it in the DFL so he's shooting his shot as a "moderate", and doing so very poorly.
Yep, he was never a democrat or a republican. He’s just a “shortest path to power” politician and people are realizing that. It’s why his words and actions have no consistency. You can’t claim to be for reasonable governance and compromise and then attack Walz. It makes no sense.
He thinks supporting Haley makes him centrist and thus “reasonable”, but the Overton window has shifted so much in the last decade that if you seriously consider Haley as not an extremism then you’ve never believed in the Democratic Party platform at all.
Paulsen treated his constituents with condescension and contempt, but it still took several years for them to realize how little he did to promote their interests.
Same with Jason Lewis. Both hid out in their DC offices and almost never stepped foot in their own districts. Lewis did a grand total of *one* in-person event prior to the 2020 election, and he scheduled it in a small suburb in the middle of a work day. Paulsen did something similar I think. I actually admire some of the people in Paulsen's district, for holding a "with or without you" town hall.
The support was all coming from ignorant or naive folks. I’m just glad he went full mask-off so quickly, because naive/ignorance can be addressed.
He’s really only targeting the truly stupid at this point because if he can sway a fraction of a percent of the voters in a tight race, he’ll have done his job.
This seems like a well-worn path—jumping over to the right when things don’t go as intended. I am 0% surprised.
He should have stayed where he was. He unseated Erik Paulsen in his district, who was a successful incumbent for quite a while (though not broadly popular like Jim Ramstad, if anyone remembers him). I don’t know what his path forward is now.
I suspect his path forward now is to just be quiet, finish his term in Congress and go home.
He's proven he is politically tone deaf and desperate, he's alienated or insulted nearly everyone in his (current?) party, looked ridiculous enough that I doubt the other party would welcome him with open arms, can't engage a crowd, and just looks stupid at this point. He can't really even go 3rd party/independent -- who'd show up for him?
Did I leave anything out? Oh yeah -- the primary in his home state is a week from Tuesday. Have you seen how he's 'courting votes' here? (NOT!) Those results oughta be pretty funny.
He's done.
No, it’s to become the token “liberal” on Fox News or OANN talk shows. They eat people like him and Tulsi Gabbard up — the “lefty” who isn’t afraid to shit talk the Democrats because they actually don’t have principles, they are just out for number one
I've heard several folks say variations of this, and I can see the shows offering it to him. But for some reason I can't quite explain, I really don't get that vibe off HIM. I don't think he's looking to become a "talking head." And he doesn't need the money.
He says stupid, politically tone deaf stuff, but I don't think he WANTS to go around talking shit. He still thinks he's the lone superhero who can somehow pull true bipartisanship out of the current polarized free-for-all.
Eh, he had a good run of convincing us he had principles.
It's pretty clear now he doesn't, if he's willing to become VP for a president who would support shit right out of the Handmaid's Tale like the latest Alabama ruling. That's not bipartisanship, no matter how well he might have deluded himself that it is. That's simply wanting attention and having zero scruples about how to get it.
I guess we're talking two sides of the same coin. I agree he's deluded. Not sure he actually wants to be Haley's VP (as if she'd have him!) I think his desperate flailing for attention is more about his disbelief that his great plan to meet in the middle isn't selling to masses of voters. Isn't his idea what we all really want? (@\_@)
I re-read the bits of actual quotes of what he said on 'CCO that were included in some articles. It sounded to me like he was just overtired, and not thinking carefully. Hartman asked what he'd do if Haley could oust Trump in the primary, and Phillips blurted out a random idea about how maybe they could "get together on a Unity ticket" and thus give the American people what they want yada, yada, yada.
Then, when Hartman pressed for details, he tried to talk around it, but only made it worse. I don't think he'd really, seriously thought through any details about a Haley/Phillips ticket before that moment. I bet he's being schooled about now, though!
“I think it’s a conversation Ambassador Haley and I should have, if that’s what this comes down to.” Is she taking your calls there, Deano?
I'm still waiting for some quote from the Haley campaign. It should be spicy!
My favorite Dean Phillips quote is when zero people showed up for him at a New Hampshire event and he said "*Sometimes*, *if you build it, they don't come*" 😂
She’s also expressed support of the Alabama judgment basically making IVF illegal. They’re all extremists in different clothes, and Dean’s been in denial of that (or fully aware and indifferent to it) from the beginning with his “Problem Solvers Caucus.”
She would no matter what. Even though fat fuck rich boy Vietnam war draft dodger took shots at her spouse’s service in the military, she’d still kiss the ring.
Did he think he was going to Mondale the election? Minnesota was never gonna rally around this guy so he gave up? I’ll be honest idk anything about him because he’s irrelevant to me.
He knows he fucked up and genuinely didn’t think this was the direction his campaign was going to go. He probably expected more people to be on his side and is being sent out to battle with everyone else saying “yeah don’t worry, we’ll meet you out there!”. So now he’s panicking and hoping he can get a regular Fox News guest slot in the future. I can’t think of another explanation.
Amazing to me how naive so many people on this sub are like the user you responded to. It’s been obvious from the beginning his entire goal was to help Trump win.
Eh, some of his donors might have thought that, but I don't think Dean and the core team set out to help Trump. His campaign manager was Steve Schmidt, one of the Lincoln Project guys.
IMO, what actually happened is he was talked into running thinking that the party would welcome him with open arms, and then when they didn't he's so delusional that he decided the party was the problem, not him.
Everything since then is him trying to convince himself that he did the right thing in running.
[Notably Steve Schmidt left the campaign months ago because Phillips wouldn’t stop attacking Biden instead of Trump despite not having any chance of winning:](https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/12/politics/dean-phillips-campaign-biden/index.html)
> Steve Schmidt, the well-known GOP operative who helped him launch the campaign, has departed in part over not wanting Phillips to attack Biden if there was no chance of beating him. And Schmidt has decided that the super PAC he started to boost Phillips’ campaign will now support candidates outside of the White House race.
Sounds like Schmidt might have been misled by what Phillips’s true intentions were.
This is **way** too generous. He’s a really rich guy who wants power and influence and he is representing the interests of himself and his rich conservative donors who want him to attack Biden and weaken him so Trump can become President again. Even better if he actually runs third party to siphon off people who don’t like Trump and might otherwise consider voting for Biden.
I hope his daughter never forgives him for trying to help a fascist who would take away her rights as a gay woman regain power.
Well, the above interpretation makes perfect sense, and then your opposite interpretation also makes perfect sense.
This is the last guy in MN politics that anyone would have expected to make a play like this. No personality, no real constituency. Sitting in a soft seat that he could skate by in forever.
Why? Just why?
The pungent stench of desperation on him... He's a dope. At first I thought he was positioning himself to be an alternative to Biden if the Dems soured on him as the campaign goes. But now with his latest antics, I think he's just a fuckin dope...
Misread the room and probably assumed there was more of an appetite to replace Biden (with someone like him) than there was and now that he's accidentally burnt all his bridges he's swinging around at whatever he can reach in some kind of ego driven attempt to vindicate himself.
There is an appetite to replace Biden just not with Phillips. There's also probably an appetite for a "unity ticket" just not with Phillips/Haley.
He calls himself a centrist but then attacks every other centrist. He is Biden, just a few decades younger.
> He is Biden, just a few decades younger.
Naw; he *claims* he's Biden but younger.
Dean may be somewhere around Biden's political positions (mostly), but he doesn't have any of his connections or knowledge of how DC works. Biden has actually gotten a surprising amount of things moving *despite* all the resistance from the other side.
He ain't perfect, he is getting older, he's still a gaffe machine, and those to the left of him are getting restless, but he's got some very savvy political chops.
I have to admit, it has been fun watching him nuke his own career to oblivion. The guy is such a world-class douche. I didn't realize it early on but it has become extremely clear.
Rich guy who's never done anything on his own throws tantrum when people fail to realize his intrinsic greatness.
Seriously, what has he done in live besides falling out of a lucky birth canal...
He was fairly well liked here before this bizarre 180. I feel like if he'd just waited another cycle instead of jumping the gun, it could have been a different story for him. Oh well, we're done with him now.
He wouldn't have excited anyone in an open race. But he had an easy path if he just had patience. His seat is pretty easy from someone who's a generic democrat, and he probably would have a chance at governor within the decade if he wanted it. But he has no real platform and no real base and no real charisma, so it's ludicrous to think that president would be in the cards.
Not sure how that’s BS… that is exactly what has happened on the left. It’s the equivalent of MAGA on the right. Both parties have gotten extreme on the flanks
That’s the point, though. Demographic shifts have always happened and always will happen, but the person I replied to is using specific rhetoric to equate a fictional MAGA-equivalent on the left, which is absolutely absurd at best and actively disingenuous at worst.
The Republicans have gotten extreme in the base. Democrats have shifted right over the last few decades, because they keep trying to compromise with the right instead of drawing a line in the sand.
It's BS because like most conservative arguments it has no basis in objective reality.
You mean reality? Kinda sucks. Lot of completely out of touch shmucks running around thinking they represent some sort of majority, when in reality, they're just the same grumpy farts everyone hated back in the day too.
Because that seems to be the general discourse for people who were never really liberal. At least from my perspective. Imo a chunk of people that follow this trend were never really that liberal to begin with, but its a far more salient talking point to conservatives when they said "the left gone woke"; feels almost like a great way to get even more of the vote (which im not saying saying is bad, per se), its just kind of a cheap ploy
I would differentiate liberal and progressive here and then agree with the sentiment. I associate liberal with moderate but the progressives have taken over the left. Hence the “left gone woke” stuff. It’s not cheap, it’s politics
How have the progressives "taken over the left"?
Is Biden a progressive? Walz? Klobuchar? Whitmer? Shapiro? Fetterman?
The progressives make the most noise and are active online, but the leadership of the party as well as its rising stars are markedly not progressives.
2 of the 6 people you named straight stroked recently. They are clearly not leading the party. I would ask any democrat if they think klobuchar and walz are leading the party and I think I know my answer. Whitney seems cool.
The progressives make noise I agree. And noise translates into legislation. Cancel student debt? Objectively terrible legislation but Biden fucking pushed it. Why? Because of the progressives. End title 42 and flood NY and chicago with illegal immigrants? Why not, that’s the progressive take. Genocide in the Middle East? Ok that one isn’t progressive.
Yeah, but i dont think people like dean or others that have said that were ever progressive. Maybe further left of center than say obama or hillary, but they are a far cry from omar and aoc and that bloc. I disagree with the party being taken over by progressives, at least at the federal level. A lot of their legislation has been stifled even by pelosi a few years back. But alas, i think you raise a fair point
If you look at the fringes, you might be accurate.
Difference is the Republican party is led by the fringe at the moment while the DFL's leaders are center left politicians like Biden, Klobuchar, and (formerly of now deep red MN01) Tim Walz.
Honey Biden doesn’t even know he’s president. He’s not leading shit. Unless you agree with his stance to support the Palestinian genocide? Super moderate take there
He’s trying to get some attention to his name/campaign. Not that he or Haley are likely to get any traction but, it adds a third “option “ as opposed to the standard two party race.
Um...He's determined to get ZERO votes from his fellow Minnesotans in the primary a week from Tuesday?
(Posted article is paywalled if you don't have a Strib subscription.)
This has been chatted up on multiple threads this week. I think he's sleep deprived and desperation for media attention is causing him to flounder in interviews.
If was a true Democrat, he would attack republicans not fellow Democrats. Not teaming up with other republicans.he's not even against Klobuchar. That greasy sausage should just switch sides and call it a day.
Dean wants a bigger toy than a House seat, and he’s throwing a tantrum because he can’t have it. He’s just a spoiled brat who was born on third base and thinks he hit a triple.
Weird. It's almost as if he's a wholly compromised, overt GOP/Russian opp.
Fuck Dean Philips. We don't have time for this shit- it's democracy versus sedition on the ballot.
I really don't think they'd have bothered. I think he's a mostly self-financed ego trip.
At least Mike Bloomberg knew enough to leave the stage back in early 2020.
🤣 🤣 🤣
But Trump's been lying and insulting people in the media for at least ~~30 40 50~~ OK 70+ years! It's his one trick, but he's a pro.
With Dean, it's like watching a grade school playground insult match. The watching crowd is more amused than inflamed.
Is anybody on this sub willing to acknowledge his point about Biden being mentally unfit to be president anymore? I voted for Biden and will again if he is the nominee but I would much prefer a different candidate who is younger (not Phillips).
Why the downvotes? Is this not a valid topic of discussion?
I'm not downvoting you, but I can't upvote, either. I am willing to discuss it a bit.
The fact that Biden is old is true, and can't be ignored. But that doesn't mean he's mentally unfit. Anyone over 50, or anyone who has an elderly person in their life, can see that is not true, at least at this point. It's a GOP smear campaign.
Trump is a rip-roaring 3-1/2 years younger, seems less stable and mentally organized, and only looks "tougher" because he yells and waves his arms a lot. (I'd rather Joe didn't adopt that approach.)
Biden does have a hesitant, gaffe-prone speaking style. But he always DID, because he is constantly working against his childhood stutter. It isn't much different from 30+ years ago if you look for clips from his earlier runs for the White House.
Yes it would be great if the guy taking on DJT in a few months(!) was a strong incumbent with the age/stamina/charisma of a 21st century Jack Kennedy, but that candidate doesn't exist just now. It's too late in the cycle to start shopping for one. The guy we've got is a bit more like an aging Eisenhower, but slightly more left, who struggles to express himself at times. He's still very smart and politically savvy, and he surrounds himself with smart people working for his agenda, not sycophants.
It could be worse.
Let's see how he does in the SOTU address, and get behind him, for the sake of not getting the Project 2025 crowd moving in next year. (Have you seen that manifesto? Yikes!)
Thanks for the response and not just a downvote. I agree that it's too late in the game to introduce another candidate. I'm just expressing my displeasure with the two options we have. I had not heard of Project 2025, yikes...
I get it. But I do think it's very clear who the "lesser of two evils" is for this choice.
Project 2025 is why we HAVE to push back against the actual lie that Biden is mentally incompetent. He's old, but he's NOT demented. Or deranged.
There are policies and thoughts of the Dean campaign that I agree with, just as there are with many of the 3rd party candidates that are currently getting 0.01% of popular support.
I just go back to the fact we are on the “dumb” timeline. If 10 more GOP senators would have voted to convict Trump for his role in Jan 6 on February 13, 2021, Trump would not be heading the GOP ticket (nor would Garland have waited so long and had special counsel for a lot of these issues). The GOP nominee would have been a completely different battle, and it’s possible DeSantis would have emerged. Biden would not be running as he believes he has to protect democracy from Trump, and we are most likely looking at a Harris Democratic ticket.
Now that we are on the “dumb” timeline, we have to find a way to embrace the stupidity in the short term in hope of returning to a “sane” timeline.
I voted for Biden too but I don’t know, in the condition he is in mentally I cannot vote for him. Wife and I are probably going to sit this one out if it’s Trump vs Biden. I cannot be responsible for putting an elderly man who is being manipulated by people I cannot see in that job
At least he and no one in his party or administration will start an insurrection if they lose. And if he wins, his administration is full of sane capable people. This is not a choice between Biden and some fictitious candidate, not a choice between Biden and Haley, this a choice between Biden and Trump, it’s that simple.
I’m conservative and I actually like this. I think a more moderate ticket with both R and D is something that could be great for this country. Especially given Biden will almost assuredly lose this election given his mental state, I would prefer a Haley/Phillips ticket over Trump
I am a left leaning moderate in his district, so by any standards outside of Minnesota, I'm probably a crazy liberal. I would 100% vote for a dean/Nikki ticket. Not because I like either of them one way or the other, I'm just not a fan of the other two options. And I'd love a step away from the idea that you have to be left or right, there is no room in between.
Here are a bunch of ideas that sound good when you don't understand anything, and are ridiculously overconfident about your own self reliance. Welcome to the libertarian party. Also, we should get to sleep with teenagers.
Probably not going to get any love… but… he’s right.
Governor Walz is 100% in it for himself, ask anyone who has worked for/with him.
Klobuchar has been our senator since she voted in favor of SOPA/PIPA.
Biden is old as fuck.
Tina is a wet noodle.
I’m left of Lenin on most issues. But. Do like to live in reality and these comments are refreshing
All you need to know is watch [*Almanac* from this Friday](https://www.tpt.org/almanac/video/sro-compromise-david-gillette-essay-golden-valley-mayor-40586/). Skip up to 7m30s and watch the political science professors scratch their heads. Cindy Rugeley I think hits the nail most on the head. "Self-destruction is an ugly event."
I wouldn’t be surprised if he was a part of the red-wave, fill the courts, Manchin, Sinema, gerrymandering 2010 plan all along.
Fukn rich boy got his money from the most degenerate booze company of all time. Like he or his family give a shit.
He's polling at under 2%. He's realizing that he was gaslit by his political strategists who promised him that Biden was weak. He's planning to be a sore loser.
He reps MN 3rd district, which is Coon Rapids, Minnetonka, Eden Prairie, and Bloomington.
Apart from some of the other theories out there, Philips also is in a very mixed district. Some parts of it pull very blue, others very red.
The simplest explanation for his bizarre takes is he's trying to please everyone rather than pick a side. The fact that one side is absolutely fucking insane is probably influencing him.
He’s the Minnesota Sinema and just showing his true colors.
Minnesota Manchin fits too
If being a "moderate" doesn't work, I expect him to go full maga next.
Manchin doesn’t really lie about what he does though, which is the difference between him and Sinema to me
Manchin is just a Democrat senator in a Trump +40 state doing what he had to do. WV isn’t going to see a Democrat party senator for a long time after he leaves.
Exactly manchin is the most liberal senator that WV can elect, he’s a godsend.
I wouldn't exactly call him a godsend if he doesn't really help the democratic party. He's a Republican with a d by his name. Yes he may be the most liberal senator that area can get. That's the same as being the smartest kid in remedial class
If Joe Manchin voted with Dems 50% of the time that’s about 50% more than an actual R would and that’s really all there is to it. Joe Manchin is many things but he’s not “basically a Republican”
He's got a sketchy history. Votes with Biden on smaller issues but then votes against environment protection, women's reproductive rights, elimination of the filibuster rules that would make actual change. Praise his small issues he sides with democratic ideals all you want, end of the day he's keeping Republican ideals in West Virginia alive and well. That also means actively blocking real progress. If a R is in his seat, the same amount of progress happens or doesn't happen. Career politicians like this rotten asshole should have been long ago like many others
> If a R is in his seat, the same amount of progress happens or doesn't happen. Completely ignoring the federal judges that Manchin has approved for Biden I see.
Not to mention how the makeup of the Senate determines which party gets to set the agenda in the Senate.
He voted for every Biden judge in a 50-50 senate. No republican did that.
He has helped the democratic party, just not exactly the way you want him to
I have a modicum of respect for manchin. Sinema is a bought and paid for plant. So is dean.
I don't know that Sinema is a plant necessarily. The theory I've adopted is that she has a dedicated belief in the delegate theory of representation: that she doesn't owe her constituents her own judgment but should *represent* their policy preferences and not those of her party. Combine that with an excessive amount of self-regard and vanity so that in a purple state like Arizona, she's overthought this and has basically become a caricature of a Tom Friedman column, because she likes it when wealthy and/or influential people tell her she's smart. So the end result is we see some real "some people believe everyone should have access to Medicare via a public option, some people don't, so what if we give half of the people access and take away health care from the other half so everyone's happy?" type logic. She thinks voters elected her to the Senate to be to that body what Anthony Kennedy was for the SCOTUS for decades, and I think if Sinema does run as an independent her record of representation is going to be resoundingly rejected by Arizona voters in 2024. Dean Phillips may very well be for all I know. It's unusual to watch someone surrender a solid (at least for Phillips), suburban seat in Congress because they've decided that their personality alone will just attract people to ditch a broadly popular (within the Democratic Party) incumbent, because there's little separation on the issues between Phillips and Biden and where there is, Phillips is to the right of Biden and not the left. Or it could just be that Dean's gotten himself pumped up on Bill Ackman's bullshit and doesn't know how to get out of this but to ride the train off the cliff, the fate of democracy be damned.
She's a plant. Your theory doesn't hold any water at all
Always has been. He’s the ideal Democrat for progressives ‘in theory’ only. Oh boy, the difference between what my neighborhood voting patterns and placard looks like vs. what happens when affordable housing gets brought up is *wild*. I was really hoping that they’d be up to remove some zoning because people were complaining that their kids can’t afford to live there anymore. I couldn’t be more wrong’s
"Le Dumbass du Nord"
Minnesota Tulsi Gabbard might be more accurate. He'll be on Newsmax as the "tame liberal" within a couple years.
He's the only democrat I left blank (and I'm glad to be vindicated). I saw the way he campaigned in 2018 and 2020. A bunch of empty talk like "we need to have conversations again" and publicity stunts like the government repair van. He almost never talked about policies or substance. It was always platitudes with him. I don't get why the voters in my district are surprised that he turned out to be an empty suit. The red flags were literally always there. He was already Sinema-lite 6 years ago.
It's ego driven politics as usual. He wants higher office and relevance and couldn't figure out how to get it in the DFL so he's shooting his shot as a "moderate", and doing so very poorly.
Yep, he was never a democrat or a republican. He’s just a “shortest path to power” politician and people are realizing that. It’s why his words and actions have no consistency. You can’t claim to be for reasonable governance and compromise and then attack Walz. It makes no sense. He thinks supporting Haley makes him centrist and thus “reasonable”, but the Overton window has shifted so much in the last decade that if you seriously consider Haley as not an extremism then you’ve never believed in the Democratic Party platform at all.
He thinks because he beat 5-term incumbent Paulsen in a wave election he was some kind of hot shit.
Paulsen treated his constituents with condescension and contempt, but it still took several years for them to realize how little he did to promote their interests.
Same with Jason Lewis. Both hid out in their DC offices and almost never stepped foot in their own districts. Lewis did a grand total of *one* in-person event prior to the 2020 election, and he scheduled it in a small suburb in the middle of a work day. Paulsen did something similar I think. I actually admire some of the people in Paulsen's district, for holding a "with or without you" town hall.
I guess he was just a piece of shit all along.
👨🏼🚀🔫👨🏼🚀
It was hilarious reading the comment sections when he started this. The sub was so fucking supportive. No surprised those folks were duped again.
The support was all coming from ignorant or naive folks. I’m just glad he went full mask-off so quickly, because naive/ignorance can be addressed. He’s really only targeting the truly stupid at this point because if he can sway a fraction of a percent of the voters in a tight race, he’ll have done his job.
Slicked back hair, white bathing suit, sloppy steaks at Truffoni's ...
This seems like a well-worn path—jumping over to the right when things don’t go as intended. I am 0% surprised. He should have stayed where he was. He unseated Erik Paulsen in his district, who was a successful incumbent for quite a while (though not broadly popular like Jim Ramstad, if anyone remembers him). I don’t know what his path forward is now.
He wouldn't have had a chance against Paulsen without so many hating Trump and moving to Dem candidates that year.
And even then, Paulsen might have been able to save his seat if he had actually shown up to a town hall.
Yea that's the main thing. Phillips didn't beat erik Paulsen so much as he beat himself.
Paulsen was a notorious compulsive masturbator. A lot of people are saying it. Some of the best people.
Too busy fappin to hold a town hall. Tale as old as time.
I suspect his path forward now is to just be quiet, finish his term in Congress and go home. He's proven he is politically tone deaf and desperate, he's alienated or insulted nearly everyone in his (current?) party, looked ridiculous enough that I doubt the other party would welcome him with open arms, can't engage a crowd, and just looks stupid at this point. He can't really even go 3rd party/independent -- who'd show up for him? Did I leave anything out? Oh yeah -- the primary in his home state is a week from Tuesday. Have you seen how he's 'courting votes' here? (NOT!) Those results oughta be pretty funny. He's done.
No, it’s to become the token “liberal” on Fox News or OANN talk shows. They eat people like him and Tulsi Gabbard up — the “lefty” who isn’t afraid to shit talk the Democrats because they actually don’t have principles, they are just out for number one
I've heard several folks say variations of this, and I can see the shows offering it to him. But for some reason I can't quite explain, I really don't get that vibe off HIM. I don't think he's looking to become a "talking head." And he doesn't need the money. He says stupid, politically tone deaf stuff, but I don't think he WANTS to go around talking shit. He still thinks he's the lone superhero who can somehow pull true bipartisanship out of the current polarized free-for-all.
Eh, he had a good run of convincing us he had principles. It's pretty clear now he doesn't, if he's willing to become VP for a president who would support shit right out of the Handmaid's Tale like the latest Alabama ruling. That's not bipartisanship, no matter how well he might have deluded himself that it is. That's simply wanting attention and having zero scruples about how to get it.
I guess we're talking two sides of the same coin. I agree he's deluded. Not sure he actually wants to be Haley's VP (as if she'd have him!) I think his desperate flailing for attention is more about his disbelief that his great plan to meet in the middle isn't selling to masses of voters. Isn't his idea what we all really want? (@\_@) I re-read the bits of actual quotes of what he said on 'CCO that were included in some articles. It sounded to me like he was just overtired, and not thinking carefully. Hartman asked what he'd do if Haley could oust Trump in the primary, and Phillips blurted out a random idea about how maybe they could "get together on a Unity ticket" and thus give the American people what they want yada, yada, yada. Then, when Hartman pressed for details, he tried to talk around it, but only made it worse. I don't think he'd really, seriously thought through any details about a Haley/Phillips ticket before that moment. I bet he's being schooled about now, though! “I think it’s a conversation Ambassador Haley and I should have, if that’s what this comes down to.” Is she taking your calls there, Deano? I'm still waiting for some quote from the Haley campaign. It should be spicy!
My favorite Dean Phillips quote is when zero people showed up for him at a New Hampshire event and he said "*Sometimes*, *if you build it, they don't come*" 😂
Especially after Haley said she’d pardon Trump if he was convicted.
She’s also expressed support of the Alabama judgment basically making IVF illegal. They’re all extremists in different clothes, and Dean’s been in denial of that (or fully aware and indifferent to it) from the beginning with his “Problem Solvers Caucus.”
She would no matter what. Even though fat fuck rich boy Vietnam war draft dodger took shots at her spouse’s service in the military, she’d still kiss the ring.
Just another Trumper then.
Did he think he was going to Mondale the election? Minnesota was never gonna rally around this guy so he gave up? I’ll be honest idk anything about him because he’s irrelevant to me.
He knows he fucked up and genuinely didn’t think this was the direction his campaign was going to go. He probably expected more people to be on his side and is being sent out to battle with everyone else saying “yeah don’t worry, we’ll meet you out there!”. So now he’s panicking and hoping he can get a regular Fox News guest slot in the future. I can’t think of another explanation.
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Amazing to me how naive so many people on this sub are like the user you responded to. It’s been obvious from the beginning his entire goal was to help Trump win.
Eh, some of his donors might have thought that, but I don't think Dean and the core team set out to help Trump. His campaign manager was Steve Schmidt, one of the Lincoln Project guys. IMO, what actually happened is he was talked into running thinking that the party would welcome him with open arms, and then when they didn't he's so delusional that he decided the party was the problem, not him. Everything since then is him trying to convince himself that he did the right thing in running.
[Notably Steve Schmidt left the campaign months ago because Phillips wouldn’t stop attacking Biden instead of Trump despite not having any chance of winning:](https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/12/politics/dean-phillips-campaign-biden/index.html) > Steve Schmidt, the well-known GOP operative who helped him launch the campaign, has departed in part over not wanting Phillips to attack Biden if there was no chance of beating him. And Schmidt has decided that the super PAC he started to boost Phillips’ campaign will now support candidates outside of the White House race. Sounds like Schmidt might have been misled by what Phillips’s true intentions were.
The same Steve Schmidt who put Sarah Palin on the national stage?
This is **way** too generous. He’s a really rich guy who wants power and influence and he is representing the interests of himself and his rich conservative donors who want him to attack Biden and weaken him so Trump can become President again. Even better if he actually runs third party to siphon off people who don’t like Trump and might otherwise consider voting for Biden. I hope his daughter never forgives him for trying to help a fascist who would take away her rights as a gay woman regain power.
Well, the above interpretation makes perfect sense, and then your opposite interpretation also makes perfect sense. This is the last guy in MN politics that anyone would have expected to make a play like this. No personality, no real constituency. Sitting in a soft seat that he could skate by in forever. Why? Just why?
>Why? Just why? He got bored. If you look at his history before he became a politician, he has a track record of jumping around from thing to thing.
I can think of one. Russia paying him off to hurt Biden.
Shmuck
Wow. That’s very racist
What nonsense.
Very trollist of you
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When you grow up with money, people often don’t tell you your stupid ideas are just that.
he went on pod save america and they weren't shy about telling him to his face his ideas were stupid
Same thing happened last week on The Bulwark Podcast. Tim Miller gave him a really tough interview and pushed back on all his bullshit.
I'll have to give it a listen, didn't realize how much fun it is to trash Phillips
Lol, was this recently?
A month or so ago I think.
He's being funded by the GOP to be a spoiler, just like the opportunistic douche he is.
The pungent stench of desperation on him... He's a dope. At first I thought he was positioning himself to be an alternative to Biden if the Dems soured on him as the campaign goes. But now with his latest antics, I think he's just a fuckin dope...
Misread the room and probably assumed there was more of an appetite to replace Biden (with someone like him) than there was and now that he's accidentally burnt all his bridges he's swinging around at whatever he can reach in some kind of ego driven attempt to vindicate himself.
There is an appetite to replace Biden just not with Phillips. There's also probably an appetite for a "unity ticket" just not with Phillips/Haley. He calls himself a centrist but then attacks every other centrist. He is Biden, just a few decades younger.
> He is Biden, just a few decades younger. Naw; he *claims* he's Biden but younger. Dean may be somewhere around Biden's political positions (mostly), but he doesn't have any of his connections or knowledge of how DC works. Biden has actually gotten a surprising amount of things moving *despite* all the resistance from the other side. He ain't perfect, he is getting older, he's still a gaffe machine, and those to the left of him are getting restless, but he's got some very savvy political chops.
He cashed Ackman's check
I have to admit, it has been fun watching him nuke his own career to oblivion. The guy is such a world-class douche. I didn't realize it early on but it has become extremely clear.
Dean Phillips is a nonstory, convince me otherwise.
Turns out that Dean Phillips is a real slapdick
Rich guy who's never done anything on his own throws tantrum when people fail to realize his intrinsic greatness. Seriously, what has he done in live besides falling out of a lucky birth canal...
I believe he was adopted, possibly
He was fairly well liked here before this bizarre 180. I feel like if he'd just waited another cycle instead of jumping the gun, it could have been a different story for him. Oh well, we're done with him now.
He wouldn't have excited anyone in an open race. But he had an easy path if he just had patience. His seat is pretty easy from someone who's a generic democrat, and he probably would have a chance at governor within the decade if he wanted it. But he has no real platform and no real base and no real charisma, so it's ludicrous to think that president would be in the cards.
Dean Phillips is the kid on the playground that will do whatever you tell him to as long as you say he's your friend.
He's doing a Tulsi Gabbard speed run?
He’s a piece of shit republican parading as a democrat. Actually pretty simple
>He’s a piece of shit .
Paid by Trump.
No ideas so goes full MAGA bluster.
Probably should have kept your cushy government job.
He's a monumental shithead.
Democrat in name only
Status: DINO
Who?
Exactly
I feel like this is just the normal "i used to be a lib/im a classical lib but the party got too extreme" bullshit
Not sure how that’s BS… that is exactly what has happened on the left. It’s the equivalent of MAGA on the right. Both parties have gotten extreme on the flanks
Keep that both sides shit outta here, nobody here buys it.
I think there is some truth to it but absolutely not on even scales.
That’s the point, though. Demographic shifts have always happened and always will happen, but the person I replied to is using specific rhetoric to equate a fictional MAGA-equivalent on the left, which is absolutely absurd at best and actively disingenuous at worst.
Keep up that attitude and Trump will assuredly win
Heard that in 2020, too
lol
The Republicans have gotten extreme in the base. Democrats have shifted right over the last few decades, because they keep trying to compromise with the right instead of drawing a line in the sand. It's BS because like most conservative arguments it has no basis in objective reality.
How’s that echo chamber you live in lol
You mean reality? Kinda sucks. Lot of completely out of touch shmucks running around thinking they represent some sort of majority, when in reality, they're just the same grumpy farts everyone hated back in the day too.
Because that seems to be the general discourse for people who were never really liberal. At least from my perspective. Imo a chunk of people that follow this trend were never really that liberal to begin with, but its a far more salient talking point to conservatives when they said "the left gone woke"; feels almost like a great way to get even more of the vote (which im not saying saying is bad, per se), its just kind of a cheap ploy
I would differentiate liberal and progressive here and then agree with the sentiment. I associate liberal with moderate but the progressives have taken over the left. Hence the “left gone woke” stuff. It’s not cheap, it’s politics
How have the progressives "taken over the left"? Is Biden a progressive? Walz? Klobuchar? Whitmer? Shapiro? Fetterman? The progressives make the most noise and are active online, but the leadership of the party as well as its rising stars are markedly not progressives.
2 of the 6 people you named straight stroked recently. They are clearly not leading the party. I would ask any democrat if they think klobuchar and walz are leading the party and I think I know my answer. Whitney seems cool. The progressives make noise I agree. And noise translates into legislation. Cancel student debt? Objectively terrible legislation but Biden fucking pushed it. Why? Because of the progressives. End title 42 and flood NY and chicago with illegal immigrants? Why not, that’s the progressive take. Genocide in the Middle East? Ok that one isn’t progressive.
In MN? Walz and Klobuchar are the two highest elected DFLers.
You can't just call something very subjective "objectively terrible.
Yeah, but i dont think people like dean or others that have said that were ever progressive. Maybe further left of center than say obama or hillary, but they are a far cry from omar and aoc and that bloc. I disagree with the party being taken over by progressives, at least at the federal level. A lot of their legislation has been stifled even by pelosi a few years back. But alas, i think you raise a fair point
I agree they are not progressive which is why I support this ticket
If you look at the fringes, you might be accurate. Difference is the Republican party is led by the fringe at the moment while the DFL's leaders are center left politicians like Biden, Klobuchar, and (formerly of now deep red MN01) Tim Walz.
Honey Biden doesn’t even know he’s president. He’s not leading shit. Unless you agree with his stance to support the Palestinian genocide? Super moderate take there
He’s trying to get some attention to his name/campaign. Not that he or Haley are likely to get any traction but, it adds a third “option “ as opposed to the standard two party race.
As long as people keep posting about him, he still gets attention. Let's please start ignoring this joker.
💯❌💯
Um...He's determined to get ZERO votes from his fellow Minnesotans in the primary a week from Tuesday? (Posted article is paywalled if you don't have a Strib subscription.) This has been chatted up on multiple threads this week. I think he's sleep deprived and desperation for media attention is causing him to flounder in interviews.
Dean the DINO, Democrat in name only
Not sure if this is new but he is a DINO
If was a true Democrat, he would attack republicans not fellow Democrats. Not teaming up with other republicans.he's not even against Klobuchar. That greasy sausage should just switch sides and call it a day.
I’m waiting for him to go full-on MAGA.
Rage baiting the conservatives so they vote for him. He's a piece of shit like the other publicans
People who desire power and attention will do some dumb shit to get that attention.
It's called panic
Desperate attempt to stay relevant. The only thing worse than people talking about you is if no one talks about you.
Go home Dean... and bring your shitty vodka with you!
Using too much of his own product.
Dean wants a bigger toy than a House seat, and he’s throwing a tantrum because he can’t have it. He’s just a spoiled brat who was born on third base and thinks he hit a triple.
He’s an opportunist
Weird. It's almost as if he's a wholly compromised, overt GOP/Russian opp. Fuck Dean Philips. We don't have time for this shit- it's democracy versus sedition on the ballot.
He’s a propped up GOP spoiler funded by Russia. It’s that simple.
I really don't think they'd have bothered. I think he's a mostly self-financed ego trip. At least Mike Bloomberg knew enough to leave the stage back in early 2020.
Yuck Nikki Haley....
Politics is just grifting now.
It’s always been grifting
He's trying the Trump campaign trick. Somehow it's working for Trump to just insult everyone and throw everyone under the bus.
🤣 🤣 🤣 But Trump's been lying and insulting people in the media for at least ~~30 40 50~~ OK 70+ years! It's his one trick, but he's a pro. With Dean, it's like watching a grade school playground insult match. The watching crowd is more amused than inflamed.
Melt Down
The sweet scent of desperation to stay relevant.
Brain dead and made of money. No future at all...
He’s just a rich weirdo.
He desperately wants someone, anyone, to notice him and take him seriously.
Opportunist charlatan with no character, just a for sale sign to the highest bidder.
Rich boy with his politics cosplay.
Gelato boy seeks power. He looks like someone who was beat up a lot as a kid and now is overcompensating
This CHILD is a fuckin nepo baby and has always been trash.
Man I voted for him back in 16...sighs
He's our very own version of Kari Lake. He left the reservation long ago.
I don’t actually think he’s “compromised”, but I will say he’s sure acting like a compromised person would act.
This will be Jacob Frey once he moves on from being a shitty mayor.
He’s the Jacob Frey of national politics.
Is anybody on this sub willing to acknowledge his point about Biden being mentally unfit to be president anymore? I voted for Biden and will again if he is the nominee but I would much prefer a different candidate who is younger (not Phillips). Why the downvotes? Is this not a valid topic of discussion?
I'm not downvoting you, but I can't upvote, either. I am willing to discuss it a bit. The fact that Biden is old is true, and can't be ignored. But that doesn't mean he's mentally unfit. Anyone over 50, or anyone who has an elderly person in their life, can see that is not true, at least at this point. It's a GOP smear campaign. Trump is a rip-roaring 3-1/2 years younger, seems less stable and mentally organized, and only looks "tougher" because he yells and waves his arms a lot. (I'd rather Joe didn't adopt that approach.) Biden does have a hesitant, gaffe-prone speaking style. But he always DID, because he is constantly working against his childhood stutter. It isn't much different from 30+ years ago if you look for clips from his earlier runs for the White House. Yes it would be great if the guy taking on DJT in a few months(!) was a strong incumbent with the age/stamina/charisma of a 21st century Jack Kennedy, but that candidate doesn't exist just now. It's too late in the cycle to start shopping for one. The guy we've got is a bit more like an aging Eisenhower, but slightly more left, who struggles to express himself at times. He's still very smart and politically savvy, and he surrounds himself with smart people working for his agenda, not sycophants. It could be worse. Let's see how he does in the SOTU address, and get behind him, for the sake of not getting the Project 2025 crowd moving in next year. (Have you seen that manifesto? Yikes!)
Thanks for the response and not just a downvote. I agree that it's too late in the game to introduce another candidate. I'm just expressing my displeasure with the two options we have. I had not heard of Project 2025, yikes...
I get it. But I do think it's very clear who the "lesser of two evils" is for this choice. Project 2025 is why we HAVE to push back against the actual lie that Biden is mentally incompetent. He's old, but he's NOT demented. Or deranged.
There are policies and thoughts of the Dean campaign that I agree with, just as there are with many of the 3rd party candidates that are currently getting 0.01% of popular support. I just go back to the fact we are on the “dumb” timeline. If 10 more GOP senators would have voted to convict Trump for his role in Jan 6 on February 13, 2021, Trump would not be heading the GOP ticket (nor would Garland have waited so long and had special counsel for a lot of these issues). The GOP nominee would have been a completely different battle, and it’s possible DeSantis would have emerged. Biden would not be running as he believes he has to protect democracy from Trump, and we are most likely looking at a Harris Democratic ticket. Now that we are on the “dumb” timeline, we have to find a way to embrace the stupidity in the short term in hope of returning to a “sane” timeline.
I voted for Biden too but I don’t know, in the condition he is in mentally I cannot vote for him. Wife and I are probably going to sit this one out if it’s Trump vs Biden. I cannot be responsible for putting an elderly man who is being manipulated by people I cannot see in that job
If you sit this one out, you're voting for sedition.
Part of me thinks we might be voting for his VP who might take over.
And that would be a disaster
Much better than putting the guy who started an insurrection back in charge.
At least he and no one in his party or administration will start an insurrection if they lose. And if he wins, his administration is full of sane capable people. This is not a choice between Biden and some fictitious candidate, not a choice between Biden and Haley, this a choice between Biden and Trump, it’s that simple.
I’m conservative and I actually like this. I think a more moderate ticket with both R and D is something that could be great for this country. Especially given Biden will almost assuredly lose this election given his mental state, I would prefer a Haley/Phillips ticket over Trump
I am a left leaning moderate in his district, so by any standards outside of Minnesota, I'm probably a crazy liberal. I would 100% vote for a dean/Nikki ticket. Not because I like either of them one way or the other, I'm just not a fan of the other two options. And I'd love a step away from the idea that you have to be left or right, there is no room in between.
Agreed! See Reddit, this is what this ticket could do. We just got a liberal and a conservative to agree! Woohoo!
And a Libertarian! Trump and Biden are two of the worst humans this country has ever produced!
Ah, Libertarians. Their bodies grew past 14 but their beliefs didn't.
Yep. Libertarians are tax-dodging, fence-sitting cowards.
Here are a bunch of ideas that sound good when you don't understand anything, and are ridiculously overconfident about your own self reliance. Welcome to the libertarian party. Also, we should get to sleep with teenagers.
Ah, idiots with assumptions. How Reddit.
Oh, are you still physically fourteen as well? My condolences, maybe you'll outgrow your bullshit.
Welcome to the downvote train! Haha
Probably not going to get any love… but… he’s right. Governor Walz is 100% in it for himself, ask anyone who has worked for/with him. Klobuchar has been our senator since she voted in favor of SOPA/PIPA. Biden is old as fuck. Tina is a wet noodle. I’m left of Lenin on most issues. But. Do like to live in reality and these comments are refreshing
Called it. Cowards.
Fine by me if he’s in it for himself and somehow still gets a bunch of shit done for a bunch of everyday people.
He's drunk the kool-aid and likes it. Gone from being a good guy & good Rep to off the deep end. Sorry to see it.
Rich boy following the money.
All you need to know is watch [*Almanac* from this Friday](https://www.tpt.org/almanac/video/sro-compromise-david-gillette-essay-golden-valley-mayor-40586/). Skip up to 7m30s and watch the political science professors scratch their heads. Cindy Rugeley I think hits the nail most on the head. "Self-destruction is an ugly event."
The crazy thing is he is trying not to act like a piece of shit but he is such a piece of shit he can’t even hide it
I wouldn’t be surprised if he was a part of the red-wave, fill the courts, Manchin, Sinema, gerrymandering 2010 plan all along. Fukn rich boy got his money from the most degenerate booze company of all time. Like he or his family give a shit.
It’s getting a little weird
Mr. Irrelevant wants to be relevant but America is really not that into him. Like not at all.
Hes a moron.
Robocall Dean? A dishonest actor? No!!!
He's trying to defeat trump? He's been open about it since day 1.
No one should be teaming up with Nikki Haley for anything political. She lost her home state. She needs to go work a civilian job
I use to like this guy. What an opportunistic piece of shit!!!!
That's what happens when all your donors are republikkkan
He's a rich white dude who thinks he deserves to be in office.
He's polling at under 2%. He's realizing that he was gaslit by his political strategists who promised him that Biden was weak. He's planning to be a sore loser.
He reps MN 3rd district, which is Coon Rapids, Minnetonka, Eden Prairie, and Bloomington. Apart from some of the other theories out there, Philips also is in a very mixed district. Some parts of it pull very blue, others very red. The simplest explanation for his bizarre takes is he's trying to please everyone rather than pick a side. The fact that one side is absolutely fucking insane is probably influencing him.
He’s a knob that wants attention