Chido Nwangwu writes about an unknown Democratic Party Congressman from Minnesota, Rep Dean Phillips, who has come out to challenge US President Joe Biden for the party’s 2024 presidential ticket.
As the popular and realistic saying goes, a week is a long time in politics. It’s especially so in these days of digital speed. For those who follow the details of political speeches and comments, one of the contexts for that usage has since 1886 been attributed to the British politician Joseph Chamberlain who, reportedly, said: “In politics, there is no use in looking beyond the next fortnight.”
Exactly one week today, on Friday, October 27, 2023, a nationally unknown Democratic Party Congressman from Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips announced his 2024 presidential campaign. Fact is that many establishment Democrats were outraged that an obscure member of their party had the chutzpah to challenge the incumbent President, hardworking 80-year-old Joe Biden!
Although Phillips commends Biden, noting that he “has done a spectacular job” as President, he insists that these times require a generational shift for the Democratic Party. He argues that to ensure that Democrats can defeat former President Donald Trump in the 2024 election (assuming he overcomes all the legal issues facing and qualifies to run, again, as President), their party “needs to look to the future.”
Phillips was in New Hampshire for his first town hall meeting on Wednesday, November 1, 2023. He was also interviewed on the National Public Radio’s Morning Edition. Cathy Wurzer asked him a very interesting question: “I know you said you wanted to speak with the president before you got into the race. If you had the opportunity, what would you have told him?”
Phillips responded and amplified the case for his aspiration: “Well, I would have loved to see him face-to-face. And I would have given him a hug and expressed my gratitude, and then expressed the country’s desire to pass the torch, to turn the page. 80 percent of the country, as he well knows, is looking for new leadership.
“The President knows that over 50 percent of Democrats are looking for a different nominee. And the President knows that 83 percent of Democrats under 30 years old are looking for a new nominee.
“The president also knows that he’s trailing Donald Trump by nine points nationally, the president knows that he’s trailing Donald Trump in five of the six battleground states. And the president knows that his approval ratings are at historic lows of 37 percent as of last week (October 2023). And the president knows that his Vice President (Kamala Harris) is even lower at 33 percent. And the President knows that if Democrats don’t win the next election, Donald Trump will be the president.
“And that’s what this is about, Cathy. It is a fundamental issue of the existential threat to the United States of America and democracy as we know it. And I would have thanked him for being the bridge that he promised to be. I would have thanked him for being the transitional President that he promised to be. And I would have thanked him for leading the country through difficult years. But I believe the president also knows the country’s ready for change, and to pass the torch, and I’m presenting a bold vision for the future — a reunification or repairing, if you will — of the country, and demonstrating respect for all people, regardless of races, colors, religions and politics. And it is time for this country to move on. Because we are in crisis. We need bold leadership and it’s time for a new generation.”
Recall that in the summer of 2022, I quoted in my column, the frank and insightful thoughts of Tatishe Nteta, associate professor of political science at UMass at Amherst who stated that “The President’s sinking approval rating among his most loyal constituencies, most notably people of color, young Americans and even Democrats must be ringing alarm bells in the White House.”
It should be ringing at the Biden campaign headquarters, too.
Yes, I know the 2024 presidential election will not be held next week; it will be here, soon.
I know that in the rough and tumble of politics in the United States, timing is important. The effective and proper use of timing and opportunity make a world of difference.
They contribute to how voters react to a candidacy as aggressive, proper, serious, timely, or needless distraction.
-Dr Nwangwu, Founder & Publisher of USAfrica magazine and first African-owned, U.S-based newspaper published on the Internet, USAfricaonline.com.
Follow him on X @Chido247
