Dean Phillips Struggles to Find His Message

Daily Beast: “About five weeks after kicking off his campaign, Phillips is grasping for a campaign rationale that extends beyond the fact that Biden is very old, relatively unpopular, and could lose to Trump. In the early days, Phillips was eager to note the president’s record on the U.S.-Mexico border and crime, sounding not unlike a conservative Democrat.”

“But in recent weeks, Phillips has started to sound like a ‘pro-worker’ populist eager to outflank Biden on issues like marijuana legalization. Phrases like a ‘national plan’ on health care convey a Rooseveltian sweep, but can leave more questions than answers in a New Hampshire diner booth.”

“The staff makeup of the Phillips operation has begun to reflect the identity crisis behind this Quixotic bid as well. At first, the congressman brought in Steve Schmidt, the combative longtime right-hand man to the late John McCain—and the co-founder of the anti-Trump Lincoln Project—as his senior adviser.”

“But as Phillips walked into a brewery in the town of Portsmouth after his diner stop, Schmidt was gone, with the candidate acknowledging the anti-Trump Republican had left the campaign.”