Put Phillips on the Ballot

Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips should be on the April presidential primary ballot in Wisconsin.

Phillips was denied ballot access by Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler, who apparently has the power to decide all by himself who will be on the party’s side of the April ballot. A few weeks ago Wikler and Republican Chair Brian Schimming met to formalize their ballots. Schimming put six names, including the two remaining challengers, Donald Trump and Nikki Haley, on his ballot while Wikler offered only Pres. Joe Biden.

That might be Democratic, but it’s undemocratic. Wisconsin’s rank and file Democrats should get to decide who their party’s nominee is, not one guy.

Right now this is just an academic argument. There’s about a 99% chance that Biden will win his renomination. But something could happen to the 81-year old Biden and then what?

Also, as a Democrat who just wants to beat Trump, I want the chance to continue to evaluate Biden’s prospects between now and our primary on April 2nd. As of today I’m genuinely undecided as to who I’d vote for. It’s not so much that I think Phillips is the guy as I might want to make a vote for a change. In my mind, a vote for Phillips represents the view that Biden is too risky a candidate to put up against the specter of four more years of the worst, most corrupt president in the nation’s history.

Phillips is challenging the ballot selection process before the Wisconsin Supreme Court. As a legal matter, I don’t know how this should go. I suppose there’s an argument to be made that these are internal party matters and that party leaders can decide who is on their side of the primary ballot. On the other hand, what’s the point of having an open primary if it’s not really open to all candidates? The whole point of Wisconsin’s primary system was to break the power of party bosses.

In a broader sense this underscores the bet that the Democratic Party establishment is making on Biden. They’ve bought into the idea that they want a Biden-Trump rematch because Biden won last time… by 44,000 votes spread over three states that gave him the Electoral College majority.

I’m not feeling real confident in that theory. I see Phillips as a safety valve and an off ramp. I hope the Supreme Court puts him on the ballot.