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Democrats’ Primary Election Nightmare

Posted on Wednesday, July 26, 2023
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by Shane Harris
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AMAC Exclusive – By Shane Harris

Primary

The Democratic National Committee’s major shakeup of the Democrat primary calendar last year has touched off a wave of chaos and controversy within the party that could potentially be a big problem for President Joe Biden in his re-election bid.

The drama began last December when DNC officials voted to have the South Carolina primary, not the Iowa caucuses, be the first Democrat presidential nominating contest, bucking five decades of tradition. That would mean that New Hampshire – traditionally the first “primary” state (as opposed to a caucus state) – would also lose its coveted “first-in-the-nation” status.

Citing a need for “more diversity” in early states, Democrats adopted a plan that would have South Carolina hold its primary on February 3, 2024, followed by New Hampshire and Nevada on February 6, Georgia on February 13, and Michigan on February 27. Iowa, meanwhile, would not hold its caucuses until Super Tuesday in March.

The move was at least in part driven by President Joe Biden, who issued a public letter to the DNC’s Rules and Bylaws Committee recommending five specific changes to the primary process – all of which the DNC ultimately adopted. Notably, South Carolina played a major role in propelling Biden to the nomination in 2020 after he struggled in Iowa and New Hampshire.

But the DNC’s reordering understandably did not sit well with Democrat officials or voters in New Hampshire and Iowa. For decades, those two states have enjoyed outsized attention from candidates looking to establish themselves early in the race – something which has been a big boost to local economies.

“This is the biggest threat that New Hampshire has ever faced in over 100 years of voting, and it’s being brought by Joe Biden, an individual that ran for president three times here,” Chris Ryan, a New Hampshire radio host, told his audience following the news.

The DNC’s changes also appeared to violate a New Hampshire law which says that the Granite State must hold its primary at least seven days before any other state’s primary. (Iowa had only been able to circumvent New Hampshire’s law by holding a caucus instead of a primary.)

As a result, New Hampshire Democrats are going rogue and refusing to give up their first-in-the-nation status. As of now, the state party plans to hold its primary on January 23, 2024 – ahead of South Carolina. Republican Governor Chris Sununu has also made clear that he has no intention of changing the law, telling reporters earlier this year, “We are going first.”

Iowa has been even more of a debacle for the DNC. In June, Iowa Democrats submitted a plan to the DNC to hold their caucuses on the same night as Iowa Republicans – now set for January 15, 2023. The DNC unsurprisingly rejected the proposal, but the Iowa Democratic Party has similarly refused to back down.

There’s also another problem with Iowa Democrats’ plan. The state party has announced that it will offer a new “caucus-by-mail” process, as opposed to the traditional in-person caucuses. But Republicans in the Iowa legislature recently passed a law requiring that all caucuses be held in person to prevent the contest from becoming too similar to a primary – thus bringing the New Hampshire law into play.

For President Biden, this primary mess of his own creation has added unnecessary drama and distraction to his re-nomination effort. If there is no resolution in the standoff between the DNC and the Iowa and New Hampshire Democratic Parties, the DNC bylaws say that those states will automatically lose half their delegates – which could incite backlash among Democrat primary voters in those states.

Other Democrats in New Hampshire and Iowa could also be on the receiving end of voters’ ire for the DNC’s decision. Ahead of Senator Maggie Hassan’s re-election bid last year, one conservative PAC warned in a two-minute ad that national Democrats were gearing up to strip New Hampshire of its first-in-the-nation status, and the issue could make an appearance in general election debates up and down the ballot next year.

If the DNC and New Hampshire Democrats can’t reach an agreement – something which looks increasingly likely – national Democrats will officially boycott the state’s primary. That means Biden would not be on the ballot, and a challenger like Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. (already polling near 15 percent) or Marianne Williamson would technically end up winning the state.

Such an occurrence is unlikely to prevent Biden from being nominated, but it could be a major embarrassment for the president and generate a few days of negative headlines.

At the same time, political observers will be watching closely to see whether positive attention for Kennedy on New Hampshire primary night could potentially launch his campaign into contention in other states. This would end up forcing Biden to devote resources to the primary (something which has historically been a bad omen for sitting presidents) when he would prefer to focus on the general election.

For an incumbent president whom a majority of Democrats didn’t even want on the ticket next year in the first place, seemingly small blows like these could snowball into something catastrophic.

Shane Harris is a writer and political consultant from Southwest Ohio.

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PaulE
PaulE
1 year ago

I guess most of the writers of these articles for AMAC don’t want to state the simple truth to the American people. The Democrat Party, or at least the mega donors of the Democrat Party, already have the useful idiot they want in place in the White House and have no intention of allowing the People to change that.

The primary schedule, on the Democrat side, was altered to simply anoint Biden quickly, so Team Biden can simply run a repeat of 2020 with Biden essentially campaigning from inside the White House this time around. Various WH aids and members of the MSM will be the ones appearing before TV cameras to “sell” the message to the American people. An occasional, slickly produced video ad like the one recently released, with snippets of images of Biden inserted over a voice narration, will be played endlessly on various networks. That is how I see the Democrat Party handling the 2024 election cycle.

I fully expect the attacks, by the MSM and Team Biden spokes people, on RFK Jr. will increase in both frequency and intensity over the next couple of months. If you didn’t like how he was treated at the last House congressional hearing on censoring by the Democrats, then you’re not going to enjoy the next 16 months. Team Biden and the DNC will do whatever it takes to crush any opposition to a continuation of the current regime in power. That’s a simple fact.

The same strategies used in other autocratic countries are being used here by the current administration in the White House against all opposition from both parties. Look at how Lula recently dealt with Bolsonaro in Brazil and Erdogan dealt with his political rival. The same tactics are being employed here. RFK Jr. is not a stupid man, so he should be well versed in how far other authoritarian regimes around the world have gone to ensure their opposition has been effectively neutralized.

TommyD
TommyD
1 year ago

Negative headlines? For Biden? Lol, whoever (Obama?) is running the government has already made it clear that Biden is hands off in the media and that includes his drug fueled, prostitute paying, criminal of a son. We have Biden on video stating that he pressured the Ukrainian President to remove the person investigating Hunter in Ukraine, “or the US wouldn’t give them a billion dollar loan”. That’s what Biden said publicly, then he went on to brag that the investigator was removed before Biden’s “wheels on his plane were off the ground”. He said this in front of a crowd of people while VP and still nothing is done about it.?.? That’s extortion, at the minimum. We have a man that obviously has signs of dementia or something similar and most people are acting like nothings wrong. It is eerily similar to the Aesop’s Fable,- The Emperor’s New Clothes (Robes). The really scary thing is that so many people are simply going along with it like nothing’s wrong. America, the land of the free, has turned into the land of the sheep.

anna hubert
anna hubert
1 year ago

Is it not about time to call the spade a spade? Democratic party no longer exists yet it still calls itself that It became a Party that does not dare to call itself its true name

phoenix
phoenix
1 year ago

Laughable article. None of it matters. Biden will be the nominee. Because the super delagate and whoever runs him want it that way.

Democrat voters have only an illusion of choice. But given that they are made up of the majority of objectively stupid rubes they don’t know. Or care.

Garyk
Garyk
1 year ago

More disfunction of the marxist democrat party!
Everything they touch is destruction of America or failure!
What a bunch of corrupt losers.

Carol
Carol
1 year ago

Dear Shane and the world:
I just tried to answer Melinda and lost my entire email. I was saying that I am getting pretty tired of people thinking that this is about our entertainment!
It is about the death of the America I grew up in and the finish of our CONSTITUTION ! I also said that I wished that people had had the experiences I have had in my career (health care) and had seen the horrors of people forced to live under communism.
I also said that my husband has witnessed the horrors of war as a child in WW II (socialism) and lived under communism (after WW II). I finally said that I so tried to tell people about all the things that are happening in this country after I returned from my work in the soviet union and the middle east (1992). It has been almost 30 years since I returned home but the memories are so vivid in my mind! Half of the American people have been asleep and the other half are what I call “USEFUL IDIOTS” as marx (karl) called them in russia in 1914.
The “useless idiots” in WA, DC will reap what the sow but in the meantime they will destroy this wonderful country. I used to go to a movie if I was looking for entertainment but I shall never go to another disney movie (nor to any of their parks). I told my husband if he goes before me that I shall NEVER pay one more cent to this woke government. I shall NEVER drive an electric car as long as I live on this planet.
REMEMBER, I HAVE A RIGHT TO BE HERE! At the age of 83+ I have seen things that were so horrible as has my husband that BOTH OF US have been so affected by. THANK YOU SHANE FOR WRITING A GREAT AND TIMELY ARTICLE!
I will finish by saying that I hope Melinda gets to read this and that a lot of people get to see what I have written. Thank you to all of you for even letting me sound off!
Sincerely, Carol

Sharon Ormsby
Sharon Ormsby
1 year ago

I would love it for someone other than Biden to be on the Democrat ticket, especially if that someone wasn’t a Soros cronie!

Stephen Russell
Stephen Russell
1 year ago

Good more division for Dems

jocko
jocko
1 year ago

AND THE CANCEROUS, ANTI-AMERICAN, LYING CHEATING, libs BEGIN ANEW, AS ALWAYS. LAWS MEAN NOTHING TO them

kdesq
kdesq
1 year ago

Serioulsy, how cares what the democrats do, other than their obvious cheating and the coups in the 2020 election and AZ last year. They are such criminals and their voters are probably the most uninformed people in the country and more than likely the most stupid. I have no problem calling them those things because they show it each time they are presented with FACTS, but refuse to believe them. They live on feelings of moral outrage even though they have no morals at all as a party. Nope, don’t care what they do and calling biden president is a slap on the face. By the way, I purposely NEVER capitalize biden’s name out of of complete and total disrespect.

Jerry
Jerry
1 year ago

If the democrats were smart they would forget JoeBama and get behind Kennedy.

Maga 2024
Maga 2024
1 year ago

Useful idiot–is such a ideal name for Crooked Joe Biden.

Edward
Edward
1 year ago

His town hall with Sean Hannity opened my eyes to how intelligent RFK, Jr. is. The fact that this administration won’t provide him with a security detail tells me all I need to know about the Biden administration.

Ann S
Ann S
1 year ago

Nothing will happen. Soros will put the money back that Iowa and or New Hampshire would lose and everyone is happy.
The American president is not voted on by the people. He is being installed by the WEF and the elites running it.
No worries. Every head of government all over the world, except Russia and China has been installed by them. The globalists have spoken and sloppy tries through lies and gaffes to tell us their plan. Only he is inaudible and don’t know what he is saying except Folks, Come on man, and no lie. If you have to add that to a line in your speech we know you are lying.

Charlotte
Charlotte
1 year ago

Feeling very negative about the upcoming election. The Democrats have become nothing more than a gaggle of hateful, corrupt Communists who want to have control over all of us forever. They have cheated big in the last two elections and they will cheat even bigger in the next. With Biden’s collusion with Russia, Ukraine and China, I do not see how the Republicans will win. Biden should be in federal prison NOW for his treasonous actions.

Robert Zuccaro
Robert Zuccaro
1 year ago

Newsome? Biden? Kennedy? Mancin? Having to choose which Democrat to vote for is like deciding which guy gets to rape you in prison when you drop the soap. And Kamala is like being raped by all of them!

Lori
Lori
1 year ago

I say they are going to choose “Michelle Obama” not Biden. I’ve always thought this because there had to be a reason the lib dems wanted us to be okay with “sx changes”. If they could get us to say that was okay, michelle Obama would be accepted as the dem candidate

Nannie
Nannie
1 year ago

I am sure that their choice os alread set in stone and they will make sure that it happens

Lance A Ipock
Lance A Ipock
1 year ago

The powers that be do not want Kennedy to get into the election. If he was to get that far he would be suicided. The old 7 shots to the back of the head from a six shot revolver.

Rich
Rich
1 year ago

Personally I hope the communist democrats have more than just one election nightmare. These treasonous swamp rats that make up the die-hard left will continue to lie, cheat, steal until they are eliminated from the political scene and we should expect nothing less from them. If people don’t wake up this time around, America will cease to exist as a free nation.

Granny
Granny
1 year ago

I just hope RFK Jr. can continue his fight and show the contradiction in candidates. One senile old man vs One well known person of a more ‘old school democrat’ standing. Perhaps RFK can bring back some who have been confused over the past 30 years, as to what a real democrat is. I happen to like the man and I’m not even a “D”.

Myrna
Myrna
1 year ago

I really appreciate knowing of these state level decisions. I hope for the best, even when it does not seem to be happening.

Lori
Lori
1 year ago

As far as choosing a different site, maybe they think they will get better results somewhere other than the breadbasket of America

Raymond
Raymond
1 year ago

Who cares where the caucuses are held. We will wind up with a loser from either party Democrat or Republican. Same B.S. every four years

Melinda
Melinda
1 year ago

No matter what happens, the whole process will be entertaining.

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