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The DNC's decision to demote New Hampshire from its "First in the Nation" primary status is coming back to bite it in the rear. New Hampshire Democrats are furious about it. They like all the attention New Hampshire gets every 4 years and are not about to cede it to some redneck state in the South where a Democrat couldn't get elected as deputy assistant dogcatcher.
New Hampshire Democrats are now actively working on a campaign to get state Democratic voters to write in Joe Biden's name, assuming he won't file to get his name on the ballot. This would save Biden the embarrassment of losing to Marianne Williamson or Republican-in-Democratic-clothing Robert Kennedy. Kennedy might actually get a lot of votes from low-information voters who have forgotten that Bobby was assassinated 55 years ago. Or maybe some from voters who know that, but just assume that Bobby Jr. is like Bobby Sr. (Hint: He's not).
Kathy Sullivan, a former chair of the New Hampshire Democratic Party, is working on the write-in campaign. She acknowledged that it will be hard work, saying "But I think it has to be done. Otherwise I think the president is going to be embarrassed." She is angry with the DNC for its almost certain decision to strip New Hampshire of its delegates and punish any candidates who file to run there.
Dennis Kucinich (yeah, that Dennis Kucinich) is Kennedy's campaign manager. He criticized Sullivan and basically called Biden a coward. Literally, he said: "The president of the United States is so afraid of New Hampshire voters that he can't put his name on the ballot but will try to come in through the backdoor with a write-in campaign. It's risible, really." Sullivan responded by saying Biden is not involved in the write-in effort. It is her baby.
So what will the write-in campaign be like? TV ads are expensive so it probably won't come to that. It will probably be postings on social media, writing op-eds in newspapers, and encouraging state Democrats to tell all their friends and family to write Biden in. If there is enough money, maybe someone could make "Write in Biden" yard signs.
All this is a result of the DNC shooting itself in the foot. Everyone there knew that New Hampshire was never going to give up its "first-in-the-nation" status just to please Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC). Biden could surely have found another way to reward Clyburn for saving his bacon in 2020—for example, by letting Clyburn pick a couple of cabinet officers or building a new Navy base in South Carolina.
Biden and the DNC also knew that the Republicans hold the trifecta in the Granite State, so there was zero chance the law would be changed. It was a pointless battle from the start. They also knew that the Republicans hold the trifecta in the Palmetto Bug State, so they were never going to pass a law like New Hampshire's saying they had to go first. If the Democrats had decided to have Michigan go first, it might have worked. The Democrats hold the trifecta there and could have passed a law like New Hampshire's. Then the two states would have duked it out. When New Hampshire said: "We're doing it the day before Christmas, Michigan could have said "Great. We're doing it the day before Thanksgiving." When New Hampshire countered with the day before Halloween, Michigan could have responded with the day after Labor Day. Whoever bids for 2 days after Easter first, wins. The Democrats picked an uncooperative state where they have no power, just for ideological reasons (more than half of South Carolina Democrats are Black), and are now stuck with eggs on their collective faces. (V)