A "Dean Phillips for President" bus has hit the road in Ohio this morning foreshadowing what most political experts have been expecting, and Phillips himself has hinted at: he will officially be running for the Democratic nomination for President.
Ahead of his expected announcement later this week, the bus was spotted in Ohio and says “Make America Affordable Again”. It also uses Phillips' slogan, “Everyone’s Invited!”
Phillips is expected to formally announce he'll be challenging President Biden in the primary election on Friday in New Hampshire ahead of that state's primary filing deadline, which is October 27.
While the Iowa Caucuses technically happen first, the New Hampshire primary is the most important test for any serious presidential contestant. And unlike caucuses which are typically used in smaller states that cannot, or will not pay for a full-scale ballot, primaries are secret ballot elections. Voters choose their nominee in private which generally gives a better indication of where voters stand.
Phillips has been outspoken in saying the Democrats need someone to run against incumbent President Joe Biden, who Phillips has supported but also questioned due to his age, doing so on the Chad Hartman Show on WCCO Radio back in July of 2022.
“I have respect for Joe Biden," Phillips told Hartman. "I think he has, despite some mistakes and missteps, despite his age, I think he’s a man of decency, of good principal, of compassion, of empathy, and of strength. But to answer your question directly, which I know is quite rare, no, I don’t.”
Phillips told WCCO this August he has been exploring a run for president but was undecided. Then this past weekend, a source close to Phillips told WCCO's Hartman and Political Analyst Blois Olson it is happening.
Biden would be the oldest U.S. President by far if reelected. He's now 80-years old, which would make him 81 by next fall's Election, and 86 by the time his second term would be finished. His main challenger on the GOP side, Donald Trump (77-years old), also would be the oldest U.S. President by the time his second term would be over.
That has left a lot of voters concerned about the age of the main candidates, and Phillips is now throwing his hat into the ring for a rare challenge of a sitting president. Never has a candidate defeated a sitting incumbent president in a primary since the modern system was adopted in the early 1970s. The last primary challenge was in 1992 when Pat Buchanan challenged George Bush. Buchanan never won a primary but helped divide the Republicans who eventually lost the presidency to Democrats and Bill Clinton.
But there were some close calls.
The most famous instance of that challenge also has deep ties to Minnesota. Lyndon Johnson decided not to run again in 1968 (he did win the New Hampshire Primary) after being challenged by Senator Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota, Attorney General Bobby Kennedy, and the eventual Democratic nominee, Vice President Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota. Humphrey, who shared much of Johnson's pro-Vietnam viewpoints, eventually lost to Republican Richard Nixon.
On the Republican side, Ronald Reagan narrowly missed defeating incumbent Gerald Ford in 1976. Ford, of course, lost the Election to Jimmy Carter and Reagan waited until 1980 to win the presidency.