Keller @ Large: Biden to not be formal candidate in New Hampshire presidential primary
BOSTON - It's official. President Biden will not be a formal candidate in the New Hampshire presidential primary.
New Hampshire voters will still head to the polls first in primary season, but they won't be electing presidential delegates. What could that mean for the state's political clout?
As his uninspiring, unsuccessful campaigns there suggest, Biden and New Hampshire have not been a match made in heaven. "The rest of the nation is out there, there's an awful lot of electoral votes to be had," he said during the 2020 primary.
And Biden proved back then that you could crater in New Hampshire but soar in South Carolina and ride the backing of black and urban voters to the nomination. No wonder the White House has stacked the early Democratic primary calendar with states where he's likely to run strong leading into Super Tuesday.
Still, Biden's critics will try to make hay off his New Hampshire no-show, not just Trump and the Republicans but also Democrats like obscure Minnesota Congressman Dean Phillips, who seems poised to challenge Biden in New Hampshire from the left. Will voters down on Biden for his primary meddling or other reasons want to send the incumbent a message?
"I don't see as if there's enough time for him to run a serious campaign," says veteran New Hampshire Union Leader political reporter Kevin Landrigan. "It's a protest campaign. Will it be ten percent? Could be. Fifteen? It depends."
And once Biden moves on, could New Hampshire return to its status as the first serious stop on the road to the White House? "I think you'll see a fairly organized effort to convince potential candidates for 2028 that maybe starting off in New Hampshire isn't the worst thing," says Saint Anselm College Political Science Prof. Christopher Galdieri. "Let us whittle the field down and then South Carolina can have its say."
New Hampshire won't survive because it's some kind of must-win state. Democratic primary voters there haven't picked the eventual nominee since John Kerry in 2004.
But for ambitious Democrats without a national following looking to jump-start one by running strong in New Hampshire, the high level of voter engagement and media interest could make the primary a major factor once again down the road a piece.