Joe Biden is missing in action in New Hampshire
By: The Telegraph
Oh we got trouble ...................
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Most Democrats have no memory of their party's 1968 primary in New Hampshire, which ousted a sitting president. But Joe Biden surely remembers. President Lyndon Johnson won the most votes, but he performed so poorly against an outsider that he decided not to continue the race. The sitting president this year must shudder at those memories, fearing that history may once again be repeating itself.
It's hard to win a primary if you decide not to run in it, yet that is exactly what President Biden decided. Why? Primarily because of his party's racial-identity politics dictated that the party avoid holding its first vote in a state so overwhelmingly white. Biden himself had a second reason. He finished near the bottom of the Democratic field in the state's 2020 primary, and doesn't draw on a deep well of support there.
What saved Biden in the 2020 primaries was his victory in South Carolina, thanks mainly to support from James Clyburn, the state's most influential Democrat. Clyburn is a powerful member of Congress, influential among black Democrats in South Carolina, and leader of a strong local organisation. What Clyburn and other national Democrats understood was that Biden was their last chance to stop socialist Bernie Sanders from winning the nomination and almost certainly losing to Trump, costing Democrats the House and Senate. Facing that potential disaster, the party consolidated behind Biden and carried him to the nomination and ultimately to the White House.
No one knows what Clyburn demanded in return for his support, but we do know what Biden and the party did. First, Biden committed to selecting a black running mate. He passed over his best option Val Demings, a member of the House and former chief of the Orlando police department, to choose Kamala Harris. Unfortunately for the president, the Senator from California and the state's former Attorney General, has proved wildly unpopular. Despite being a clear burden on the ticket, any move to replace her would further alienate black voters who are none too pleased with Biden already.
The same logic of identity politics dictated that Democrats drop New Hampshire as their first primary, instead holding it in a state with a more diverse population that resembled the Democratic voting base. New Hampshire's population is 92 per cent white and 2 per cent black. Contrast that with the Democratic vote in the 2020 General Election: around 60 per cent of that vote came from white supporters, 19 per cent from black supporters. South Carolina where black people make up 26 per cent of the population looks a lot more like the normal Democratic constituency.
But displacing New Hampshire created a problem for Biden. The Granite State has long prided itself on holding the "first in the nation" primary, reaffirmed in the state law which dictates its primary must precede other states. When the Democratic National Committee demanded the state party change the primary date, they refused. New Hampshire Democratic officials knew that making that change would destroy the party in their state. National Democrats then upped the ante and told them the state's primary results would not be considered at the national convention. The state party still wouldn't surrender.
The result is that New Hampshire Democratic primary is still first in the nation, but it doesn't include Joe Biden's participation or even his name on the ballot. It gradually dawned on Biden strategists that this combination - a primary spurned by the president in a state that loves its first-in-the-nation status - could produce a public relations disaster. If Biden lost there, it would underscore doubts raised by his low poll numbers (in the low 40 per cent range nationally) and raise questions about his ability to win in November.
Faced with that dismal prospect, the New Hampshire Democratic Party began organising a write-in campaign for the president. It is always hard to win as a write in, but polls show Biden is likely to pull it off for two reasons. The first is organised support from the state Democratic Party. The second is that, unlike 1968, the incumbent president doesn't face competition from another prominent Democrat.
There are nearly two dozen names on the Democratic primary ballot, but the only real competition comes from Dean Phillips, a center-left representative from Minnesota. Phillips is a thoughtful, sensible candidate, but, unlike Sen. Gene McCarthy (a fellow Minnesotan), he has not attracted a national following or advanced a compelling agenda beyond saying the country needs younger leadership.
The rest of the Democratic primary ballot in New Hampshire includes such impressive entrants as, I kid you not, "Vermin Supreme," "Paperboy Love Prince," and a man or woman (who knows?) who named themselves "President R. Boddie." If Biden loses to Vermin Supreme, expect other rats to flee the ship.
Biden also faces a movement to write in the pro-Palestinian slogan, "Cease Fire" (in Gaza), rather than any candidate's name. That effort builds on national opposition to Biden among Progressives and anti-Israel activists. Against these headwinds, Biden is still likely to win, according to reports on the frozen ground in New Hampshire. A victory wouldn't mean much, but a defeat or very weak support certainly would. Biden is likely to escape those pitfalls and go on to win easily in South Carolina.
Ignoring New Hampshire this winter could well cost Biden the state's electoral votes in November. But that small state's vote in the General Election is far less important for Biden's reelection than an upturn or down in the economy, the flood of illegal immigrants, and the on-going wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.
President Biden faces a world of trouble. The primary vote in New Hampshire isn't likely to add to them.
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Oh we got trouble. Right here in DC city. With a capital T and that rhymes with B and that stands for Biden.
He was MIA for Iowa as well.
Will he bother to show up and campaign in SC?
Imagine that, I am sure he will repeat his 81 million votes again for President by having a favorable rating in the 30's and never campaigning!
" I see post turtles"