So, I still have to watch the entire thing, but Dean Phillips went on Andrew Yang's podcast, and apparently he wants Yang in his administration and he wants to pilot UBI. It should be noted that this isn't the same thing as being pro UBI. It's pro testing UBI to see if it works, which, at this point, I don't think is needed, I'm pretty convinced it works, I wanna roll it out. Still, it's interesting and it's the best we're gonna get this election cycle I guess. This could convince me to support Dean Phillips in 2024. Up to this point I've been a Marianne Williamson guy as she supports everything but UBI, but if Dean Phillips is gonna be the UBI candidate this time around, this causes me to want to take a second look at him.
Oh, and then I decided to watch the section on his priorities. He's actually pretty aligned with me. he wants to address housing with building 6 million units. Healthcare, he seems weak, like sorry dude, we need full medicare for all or a GOOD public option here. And while he talks student debt forgiveness, he stops at interest free and only forgiving it for people who go into public service. Not good enough, Dean. it's great that he has similar priorities, but he needs to be a lot better.
Still, let's reevalulate him fully here.
Metric #1
UBI support- 4/10
Support for Medicare for all- 4/10
Economic policy- 6/10
Social policy- 9/10
Foreign policy- 8/10
Overall ideology- 14/20
Commitment to progressive ideological goals- 6/10
Experience/competence- 6/10
Doesn't act as a spoiler- 10/10
Total: 67/100
He's improved a lot. He's now better than Biden here (who has 61), although he's weaker than Williamson still. Why weaker than Williamson? Well, it's simple, he's still too moderate. Sure, he pays lipservice to all of the issues I care about in an uncanny going down the bullet point list approach, but his actual solutions are too mild. he talks about UBI but he only wants to trial it. He talks about healthcare but only talks affordability and a public option. he talks about free college and student debt forgiveness, but is barely better than Biden on student debt, if he's better at all. The dude is still a milquetoast centrist, although I am warming up to him.
He basically went from AI generated Biden clone to "I could live with this guy as president some day". I mean, who knows, hes young enough, say he runs in the 2030s and wins, maybe he'd pass some serious bills advancing my agenda. He is the kind of person who, if pressed, likely would do the right thing.
I can't say I'm passionate about the guy. Quite frankly I aint passionate about anyone. But this dude kinda sorta gets it. He aint everything I want, but he's going in that direction. Given how dogmatic the left is at times, he's kind of a breath of fresh air in a way, although exact left wing policy proposals do still grab me more at times.
Still, if this is the future of the democratic party, it's moving in a positive direction and it is shifting toward actually earning my vote.
Metric #2
Basic income- 15/40
Medicare for all- 10/25
Free college/student loan forgiveness- 10/15
Climate change- 4/10
Housing program- 8/10
Total- 47/100
Keep in mind Biden got a 30 here. Williamson got a 60 for having strong positions on many issues I support though, so Phillips ain't perfect.
Still, I am starting to like Dean more. he's basically like a more milquetoast centrist version of me. I would like someone who is more of a flaming progressive, but I have to give him some credit here. He's trying. He's keeping expectations low and being moderate, but I could support the guy.
All in all, Dean Phillips really improved his campaign since he started. he want from being a milquetoast loser who was worse than Biden to being a bit better than him. Still ain't as good as williamson, and he's still too moderate for me, but I'm starting to seriously like him to some extent, despite wishing he would be more aggressive out of the gate with his policies. Still, this is literally a "dont let perfect be the enemy of the good situation". As I said, if this is the future of the democrats, they might actually earn my vote from now on.
So yeah. Dean Phillips for president? I can't say I'd endorse him above all other candidates running, but I would support replacing Biden with him, yes, assuming he can poll as good or better than Biden.
Biden is okay, Phillips is better. Williamson is still my preferred candidate since without a FULL UBI endorsement I'll be going with the candidate who fully endorses amped up versions of other policies I support, but he's promising. I can see why Yang seems to be endorsing him and seems to think he's a good guy to have. Again, not perfect, but better than nothing.
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