The holding party found itself unable to prevent an important early primary state from excluding the incumbent’s name from the ballot. This discord between the party and the state has been taking place for almost a year due to the state’s traditional early primary date. As a result, the President will not travel to Concord to complete the filing this week, a report reveals.
The current President’s decision marks a break from a long-established tradition, with sitting presidents customarily featuring on the state’s primary ballot. Interestingly, this stands in contrast to the Democratic National Committee’s (DNC) warning that they may penalise contenders participating in ‘unauthorized primaries’, such as the one presently in preparation in New Hampshire.
On Tuesday evening, the re-election campaign team of the President informed New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair, Ray Buckley, about this noteworthy decision. The announcement was made referencing directives from the national party that recommends campaigns avoid including their contenders’ names on the ballot.
Due to this advice, the President’s campaign will desist from presenting a Declaration of Candidacy for the Primary just before Friday’s filing deadline. A letter secured by the media attested to this, stating, ‘The chief executive is eager to see his name on New Hampshire’s general election ballot as the Democratic Party nominee once the official endorsement is settled at the 2024 Democratic National Convention.’
Accordingly, the President is planning a dynamic campaign directed at earning every single vote in New Hampshire comes next November. However, others aspiring for the presidency have been actively visiting the state in the past fortnight, eager to register themselves to contest in the primary scheduled early next year.
The President suggested to DNC members that both New Hampshire and Nevada should have their primary elections on the same date during the second round of the contest. Furthermore, he recommended reallocating Iowa, typically the state hosting the first caucus, while extending more consequential competition dates to Georgia and Michigan.
The outlet USA Today disclosed that the President’s decisions to adjust the Democratic schedule in December were deemed necessary to improve the engagement of ethnic minority voters and prompt candidates to make early commitments to battleground states.
Following these changes recommended by the President, the DNC embraced and ratified the new calendar earlier this year. The incumbent now squares off against several opponents, including Mr. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who recently switched his affiliation from Democrat to Independent, alleging underhanded tactics from the DNC.
Results from a recent Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll survey presented a tight race: 39% of those surveyed supported Trump, a former foe. Biden lagged behind with 33%, and Kennedy trailed at 19% of the support. Approximately 9% of those surveyed were yet to make up their minds.
Of that undecided lot, if they were forced to make a decision, 42% would go for Trump, 36% for Biden, and Kennedy would attract 22% of their votes. This was published in a recent report by Just the News on Friday.
Kennedy originally declared his aim to run against President Biden as a Democrat, but in October, he withdrew that bid. Instead, he has opted for an independent run due to his dissatisfaction with the party.
Despite Kennedy’s and Hollywood author Marianne Williamson’s candidacies, the DNC decided not to host primary debates. Even if the equation altered and Kennedy wasn’t in the race anymore, Trump would be the evident front-runner, gaining a 5% lead over Biden, at 46-41% based on the Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll.
Based on the averages provided by RealClearPolitics across several polls, Trump holds a marginal lead over Biden, which is reported to be less than 1%. This highlights the intense competition and unpredictability of the upcoming election.
