Readers Write: Biden’s potential successors, apologies to Rep. Dean Phillips

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Like many other traditionally Democratic voters, I am grateful to President Joe Biden both for his decades of exemplary public service and for knowing he needed to end his campaign for re-election.

I’ve never voted for a Republican in a general election and certainly wasn’t going to start this year, but I did go out of my way, like many other Democratic voters, to vote for Nikki Haley in Minnesota’s presidential primary this spring.

I did this both because I feel it is my patriotic duty to vote against Donald Trump every chance I possibly can, but because I didn’t want to take part in the coronation of the Democratic candidate who I felt shouldn’t be the nominee.

This is a presidential-level problem the party has faced since 2016. It has us fully sold on the need to vote against Trump. Nobody makes that case better than Trump. I just hope the Democrats take this rare opportunity to make a last-minute change and build a campaign more of us want to vote for, instead of trying for the third straight race to try to rally the troops behind a campaign built entirely on “At least I’m not Trump. Vote against Trump.”

Adam Skoglund, Eden Prairie

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Thank you, President Biden, for your many years of service and patriotism. You have been the most effective president in my lifetime. What you’ve been able to accomplish during your term, both domestically, despite a hostile House, and internationally, with the NATO community, is extraordinary. History will judge you well. As for the Republicans who think he should resign, deciding not to run again is not the same as being unfit to finish a term. They should look to their own candidate, who practically has “unfit” tattooed across his forehead.

Judy Matysik, Minneapolis

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Congratulations, Mr. President. As your dad would say, a team player knows when it’s time to step off the pitcher’s mound. But you have to go farther for the sake of the team and take one more step on behalf of the nation. Now is the time to turn over the keys to the White House to the vice president. Now — and you can personally swear Kamala Harris in as the first woman president of the United States. Now — to give her months of invaluable experience and vital media exposure.

Don’t take it personally. It’s not because we fans think you’re impaired. The will of the people for you to continue as leader is impaired. The confidence an electorate must have in its head of state is gone, for whatever reason, and you cannot govern without it. Step down now, Joe. Take this one for the team. The stakes have never been higher. History will call it your most momentous decision as president.

Jena Morris, St. Louis Park

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Kudos to U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum for boosting our own Gov. Tim Walz as a potential running mate with Kamala Harris. Walz checks all the right boxes as a potential vice presidential candidate. He has a solid record of accomplishment as governor in a state that many consider a tossup in November. He would bring a down-to-earth Midwestern sensibility to the ticket, and, best of all, he would be able to go head-to-head with Sen. JD Vance in the debates. True, Walz is not well known outside of Minnesota, but he is a fresh face on the national Democratic scene. It would be easy enough to boost his name recognition between now and November.

Iric Nathanson, Minneapolis

It was good to see D.J. Tice back again with his “apology” to Rep. Dean Phillips for throwing shade earlier this year over the short-lived challenge by the Third District DFLer to President Joe Biden in the primaries (“An apology to Dean Phillips,” Opinion Exchange, July 20).

But the now-retired commentary editor’s mea culpa might be a precursor for another move: putting the congressman from suburban Hennepin County on the Democratic ticket for vice president.

There has been much speculation by political insiders, pundits and other savants about the party’s team now that Biden has withdrawn. Despite many suggestions of various ways to fill the top of the slate, reality, practicality and availability of funding on hand, among other features, warrant the position going to Vice President Kamala Harris. If so, Phillips would be a good choice to fill her spot.

As a white male, he would bring gender and racial diversity. His age, 55, four years younger than the current vice president, would appeal to younger voters, a critical bloc in play this year. His position in the moderate segment of the party would tamper a bit of the liberal posture of the current vice president, along with his business background.

His location in Minnesota, now turning into a battleground state, would not only help here but also throughout vital Midwest states like Wisconsin and Michigan. Although hardly dynamic, he is a proven vote-getter with bipartisan appeal, having initially joined Congress in 2019 by flipping a district that had been in Republican hands for nearly 60 years and decisively winning twice since then.

Above all, his lonely plunge into the primaries, albeit quite ineffectual, reflected his prescience and some degree of courage in calling attention to the infirmities of the incumbent that are now so starkly visible.

His credentials and resume make him a superb vice presidential candidate should the opportunity present itself; no apologies needed.

Marshall H. Tanick, Minneapolis

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I found the recent “apology” to Phillips, written by D.J. Tice, quite amusing. Rather than apologizing to Phillips and worrying that the “political professionals” have lost too much power, he should be apologizing to the American people at large. Democratic leaders and most in the media saw and recognized Joe Biden’s decline and chose to hide it from the public as best they could.

We don’t need more smoke-filled rooms and backroom deals by party leaders; what we need is honest reporting on candidates and issues so that an informed public can decide who and what they should support.

Brad Hutchison, Mountain Lake, Minn.

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Thank you to Tice for his mea culpa on Phillips; we probably all owe him an apology. More important, Tice makes the excellent point — which may have occurred to many of us — that our parties’ nominating systems are broken. It is ironic that, as he relates, it is a victim of too much democracy. It seems that the same flaw that infects the caucus system now defines the primary system; “passionate voters” are in charge. Doubt it? In 2016 in Minnesota the primary election had about a 7% voter turnout vs. 74% for the general election. In 2020, it was about 22% vs. 80%. This in the state with among the highest voter turnout in the country. Now do you see how both parties might end up with candidates that most of us don’t want? Could it be because we’re letting goofs — sorry, I mean passionate voters — select them?

One hates to say we should bring back the smoke-filled backrooms, so I say bring back those rooms but without the smoke and with a bunch of grumpy, formerly smoking men and women who actually do know what’s best for us.

D. Roger Pederson, Minneapolis

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Tice’s, and myriad recent similar articles, discussed the “what ifs” of Biden’s now-ended candidacy. Given what is at stake in this election and the dwindling time remaining to turn things around, we cannot afford to wallow in self-doubt and inaction. There are meaningful, perhaps decisive, steps that can be taken regardless of who ultimately heads the ticket. The Dems need to conjure up their inner Lyndon Johnson and figure out how to force Cornel West and Jill Stein out of the race. In addition, they need to tailor their Robert F. Kennedy Jr. messaging to draw the crazy votes away from Trump. These steps should be able to garner a critical 1 to 5 percentage points in a race that will be won or lost within that margin. Let’s get back to work!

Steven Pine, Minnetonka