For reasons detailed in an article in the GSO last month (It’s bad enough to betray NH, but for South Carolina?) the Democratic National Committee (DNC) has already set a kind of record for arrogance and colossal political stupidity with their heavy handed assault on the venerable grass roots First in the Nation (FITN) New Hampshire presidential primary tradition. Developed by the Granite State for a century, the NH FITN tradition has become law in NH, and made a unique (and increasingly rare) contribution to our selection of a national leader. Dressed up as sensitivity to diversity, the DNC folly is powered by a cynical appeal to tribalism, advanced by political hacks more concerned about their own personal status than the national interest, or Democratic party viability.
Well meaning NH Democratic leaders, cowed by the specter of Donald Trump’s own war on democracy, have been exceptionally gracious and generous with this president, and the national party operatives who act in his name. But if there was any doubt about the bad faith and abuse of power manifest in this asinine DNC action, it was removed by a gratuitous and exceptionally obnoxious letter from the DNC to the NH Democratic party chairperson, instructing him in taunting fashion to “educate” NH residents about how “meaningless” the NH primary is. It is a stretch to call this “voter suppression,” as the Republican attorney general did, but one can hardly blame the Granite State GOP for having a little fun with this.
The DNC might educate themselves about a few things. The NH primary was not their creation. The DNC has built an unfortunate record of thumb-on-the-scale abuses of trust in recent presidential nomination contests, and the current conduct hardly situates them to criticize the anti-democratic drift of the MAGA GOP.
Replacing NH as FITN with South Carolina is particularly grotesque. The DNC chairman is from South Carolina. He lost a lavishly funded senate race there in 2020 by a landslide, against a MAGA incumbent widely understood to be sub par by most people not from South Carolina. South Carolina has a poor track record when it comes to grass roots access, voting rights, and civility — all important strengths of the NH primary. There is not a chance in Hell the Democratic presidential nominee will win South Carolina’s electoral votes, and there has been no such prospect for almost half a century. On the other hand, had Al Gore not narrowly lost NH in 2000, he would have been elected president, without Florida.
Not only is there a question about self dealing by the DNC chair from South Carolina, the president’s poor showing in the 2020 NH primary depicts him as petty and short sighted in this matter now, undermining his long established reputation for decency and fairness. You almost have to wonder if the DNC high command isn’t on Trump’s payroll. The president is left pretending he has no connection to the write-in campaign, in a lawful but somehow meaningless primary, waged by NH allies his Washington operatives abuse. All courtesy of DNC savvy and DNC sanctions. Way to go, DNC.
That President Biden is preferable to Trump is so obvious it shouldn’t even have to be said. So is Dean Phillips. So is Marianne Williamson. New Hampshire was the only swing state in the nation where Biden comfortably beat Trump in 2020. You’re welcome, Mr. President. Any doubt he would do so again largely derives from the political malpractice of his DNC “brain trust.”
A report this week by NBC quoted a highly placed veteran Democratic elected official saying exactly that. He called the DNC action “political malpractice,” but requested anonymity for fear of reprisal! Let that sink in, because it goes to the heart of the matter. This is the kind of thing you expect in the MAGA party, or Hungary. Trump is a threat to democracy, and to any concept of self respect in politics, yet we are told we can only defend ourselves against this by assaulting the same things Trump is assaulting. You can’t question the DNC assault on the NH primary because Trump. Be very afraid. You can’t give a fair hearing to Dem primary challengers because Donald Trump is gonna git your momma. This is shameful, and nothing could be more helpful to the MAGA cause.
Our choice would be Biden in the primary this year. He has not gotten the credit he deserves. Neither did Harry Truman in his time. But Biden is 82 in November, he did promise to just serve one term, and his difficulty in communicating effectively with the public is manifest. These things need to explored without fear. We all recall the famous Ring Lardner line — “shut up, he explained.” That won’t do here.
Yes, Phillips and Williamson are unknown. But Phillips has business and political chops, Williamson speaks with great eloquence about how the vanishing middle class means vanishing democracy, and New Hampshire has always given a courteous and fair hearing to unknowns who often make important contributions to the national discourse. It is ironic that those trying to end the NH primary as we know it, invoke inclusion, but demand unquestioning conformity. The time for being polite about this is over.