Granite State gaffe: Democrats push Biden write-in effort in New Hampshire

Democrats in New Hampshire are seeking to help President Joe Biden win their state primary and avoid a potential electoral headache despite his decision to skip the nation’s first primary of the 2024 cycle.

Starting in 2022, Biden publicly voiced support for the Democratic National Committee‘s plan to alter the long-standing primary schedule and move South Carolina, a state integral to reversing the president’s fortunes in the 2020 Democratic primary, ahead of the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary.

COURT CHALLENGES TO KEEP TRUMP OFF 2024 ELECTION BALLOTS BEGIN IN TWO STATES

However, New Hampshire Secretary of State David Scanlan, citing a state law mandating New Hampshire hold the first presidential primary in the nation, is defying the DNC’s new schedule, prompting the president’s decision to skip New Hampshire’s rogue primary.

Though Biden won’t appear on the ballot, more than 21 registered candidates will, and the grassroots write-in campaign being pushed by Biden supporters in the state is seeking to counter a serious push from 54-year-old Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN).

The write-in effort is being helmed by former New Hampshire Democratic Party chairwoman Kathy Sullivan, former state gubernatorial candidate Colin Van Ostern, and longtime campaign strategist Jim Demers.

“I’m beyond worrying about what the DNC did,” Demers told the New Hampshire Bulletin. “I think the elections are about November and the November election is where my focus is. So I want to do everything possible to make sure that Joe Biden wins reelection.”

“My expectation is this is not going to look like your typical sort of slick campaign,” he continued. “It’s going to be a real citizens’ grassroots effort and it’s going to be more educational. Because there’s a lot of people that have never written in a candidate’s name in their life.”

Legally, neither the Biden campaign nor the Democratic National Committee can be involved with the write-in effort, a fact stressed to the Washington Examiner by campaign and senior Democratic officials.

Still, analyses published Monday suggest that the write-in campaign could undermine Biden’s support throughout the rest of the race, especially if he doesn’t win New Hampshire in decisive fashion.

Jonathan Martin noted in Politico how “stronger-than-expected” New Hampshire primary challengers sank the reelection campaigns of former Presidents Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush in 1976 and 1992.

“To those who say New Hampshire is moot now because there’s no delegates at stake, at least if the D.N.C. doesn’t cave, I’d point out that delegate accumulation was beside the point for most of these races. It’s the perception of the state’s results that shapes campaigns,” Martin wrote.

Steve Duprey, a former New Hampshire GOP chairman turned Biden voter in 2020, said the state presents “very little upside and lots of downside for Biden.”

“If he ignores New Hampshire or half-asses it, he loses,” he said. “But if he goes all-in and blesses the write-in and loses then it’s even worse.”

Multiple Democratic campaign veterans hand-waved the Politico piece to the Washington Examiner, with one longtime operative calling the column “baseless fearmongering.”

Those people stated that Biden doesn’t need New Hampshire to win the nomination, stressing that the rogue primary winner won’t receive any delegates at the national convention next summer.

Furthermore, two of those operatives noted that Biden performed dismally in the state in the 2020 primary, finishing in fifth place behind Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).

The president went on to carry New Hampshire in the general election with 52% of the vote. Biden’s likely 2024 general election opponent, former President Donald Trump, also lost the state in 2016 to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, albeit by a much slimmer margin.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

Furthermore, Trump, like in 2016, is expected to employ a “fly-in” strategy in New Hampshire, appearing only for his patented MAGA rallies rather than the door-knocking and town hall appearances that have embodied New Hampshire politics for the better part of the past century.

For comparison, Phillips vowed to hold the most town halls ever for a candidate between now and the primary in early 2024.