Biden has plans for 2024
So long Iowa. Hello South Carolina
For an old guy, President Joe Biden has shown himself to be unexpectedly flexible in his approach to Democratic presidential primaries — the next one in 2024, and those that follow. Biden supports a calendar that would start, not with Iowa, but with South Carolina — the state that effectively won the Democratic primary for Biden in 2020. Next on his plate, Feb. 13 primaries in New Hampshire and Nevada.
The cause is racial equity. “Too often over the past fifty years, candidates have dropped out or had their candidacies marginalized by the press and pundits because of poor performances in small states early in the process before voters of color cast a ballot,” Biden maintained in a letter to the Democratic National Committee.
Biden wisely supported an end to presidential caucuses — which can leave the working class behind because of the caucus time and effort commitment — and suggested that the DNC re-evaluate its calendar every four years to keep up with demographic changes.
It’s not clear what will happen next. Democrats have to decide on a schedule, but also some states may have to change state laws in order to move their primary dates. GOP lawmakers and governors may not want to sign on to the DNC plan.
Biden’s call for South Carolina to go first is not quite what Harry Reid wanted. The Son of Searchlight wanted Nevada to be the first in the nation. But sharing second place with New Hampshire is not chopped liver.
Nevada would be in a stronger position if election officials were faster at announcing election results.
In 2020 the count was so slow that the Associated Press did not call the Silver State until Saturday. In 2022, AP did not call the governor’s race until Friday at 6 p.m.
As the Las Vegas Review-Journal editorialized, “The late results are indeed frustrating but are an inevitable consequence of legislative Democrats approving universal mail ballots. That policy is unlikely to change in the near future, but perhaps majority state lawmakers should consider earlier deadlines for such ballots to ensure timely tabulations.”
Biden has shown himself willing to alienate voters in New Hampshire where residents pride themselves in meeting presidential hopefuls face-to-face at town halls and house parties. Locals long have argued that the retail nature of New Hampshire campaigns is good for America. Candidates don’t have to break the bank to stump in a state with fewer than 275,000 registered Democrats.
But then, Biden came in 5th in the Granite State’s 2020 primary. So…
Debra J. Saunders is a senior fellow at the Discovery Institute’s Chapman Center for Citizen Leadership. Contact her at dsaunders@discovery.org.
High Black voters at the expense of Hispanic. Actually I prefer leaving racial discrimination (on the part of these decision-makers) and maintaining the small-restaurant level of viewing candidates that we see in starting with Iowa and New Hampshire.
Debra, you should read This Will Not Pass about Biden and Trump by Jonathan Martin. He really gets into the weeds about Biden picking his running mate and cabinet. One thing is that Clyburn basically handed him the nomination and the presidency and this was payback time -- all the other candidates dropped out. Amy Klobuchar was on his list to be his running mate but she had problems when she was DA in Minneapolis. Apparently she DECLINED to prosecute Derek Chauvin and let him go. If she had done her job at that time, he would have been in jail and George Floyd might still be alive. Politics makes strange bedfellows.