Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) announced Friday that he will not seek reelection to Congress in 2024, nearly a month after launching a primary challenge to President Biden for the Democratic nomination.
“My path to public service began the morning after the 2016 election, when I was faced with the reality that democracy requires participation, not observation,” Phillips said in a statement, referring to former President Donald Trump’s surprise victory over Hillary Clinton.
“Seven years have passed, each of which presents historic opportunities to practice a kind of optimistic politics that repairs relationships and improves people’s lives. We have faced those moments and after three terms it is time to pass the torch.”
The representative of Minnesota’s Third Congressional District kicked off his presidential campaign on Oct. 26, declaring that Biden, 81, should step aside as polls showed his party’s chances in the 2024 election were dire. if he insisted on running for a second term.
Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) announced Friday that he will not seek re-election in 2024.AP Nearly a month ago, Phillips began a primary challenge to President Biden for the Democratic nomination.AFP via Getty Images
“I will not sit still, I will not stand still in the face of the numbers that clearly say that we will face an emergency next November,” he told CBS News in an interview.
Concerns about Biden’s age and his and Vice President Kamala Harris’s low approval numbers have led Democratic allies to call for the resignation of the commander in chief, who would be 86 at the end of a hypothetical second term.
Last week, former President Barack Obama’s chief campaign strategist, David Axelrod, estimated that Biden’s chances of victory were “no better” than a “50-50 chance” and “maybe a little worse.”
Concerns about Biden’s age and his and Vice President Kamala Harris’s low approval numbers have led Democratic allies to call for the commander in chief to resign. AFP via Getty Images
In his statement Friday, Phillips emphasized that his tenure came “during some of the darkest days in our nation’s history” and that the United States still “faces a crisis of cooperation, common sense and truth.”
“Civility matters, respect is important, listening is important, and effective governance is important. No party has a monopoly on solutions and we must stop fighting against each other and start fighting for each other, before it is too late,” he stated.
“The future is very bright, as long as we have the courage and make the decision to look for it. “Keep the faith!” she added, expressing his gratitude toward his constituents and staff members.
Phillips noted that his tenure came “during some of the darkest days in our nation’s history” and that the United States still “faces a crisis of cooperation, common sense and truth.”
His office noted in a news release that his service “included some of the most consequential and turbulent events in American politics,” including “the end of the longest federal government shutdown in our nation’s history, a violent insurrection, two presidential impeachments, civic unrest, extreme polarization, and the global public health and economic crises caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The press release touted Phillips’ “reputation as a principled problem solver, respected by his peers for his pragmatism and by his constituents for his commitment to accessibility.”
He also celebrates it as the “[s]Second most bipartisan elected official when compared to all governors, senators and House members by the nonpartisan Common Ground Committee.”
According to a FiveThirtyEight review of his tenure, Phillips voted with Biden’s agenda 100% of the time while he was in Congress.AP
According to a FiveThirtyEight review of his tenure, Phillips voted with Biden’s agenda 100% of the time while in Congress.
The Minnesota Democrat is currently 66 percentage points behind Biden in the primary, recording 4.4% support in the RealClearPolitics national polling average.
The president has 70.4% support and spiritual guru Marianne Williamson is a distant second with 7.4%, the pollster shows.
Comparative polls between Trump, 77, and Biden show that the Republican favorite beats the president by 2.3 percentage points, according to the RealClearPolitics average.REUTERS
Meanwhile, the PCR average of direct polls between Trump, 77, and Biden shows the Republican favorite beating the president by 2.3 percentage points.
Several recent polls also show Trump’s lead is outside the margin of error.
Categories: Trending
Source: vtt.edu.vn