Normally, politicians don’t spend time in early primary states like Iowa or New Hampshire unless they’re gearing up to run for president.
Senator Bernie Sanders, of Vermont, is no stranger to a presidential run but a weekend trip to his neighboring Granite State has some observers scratching their heads in wonder.
While the Democratic National Committee spent its time earlier this year demoting New Hampshire out of the early primary calendar, and with President Biden purposely avoiding and ignoring the state for that reason, it’s interesting to see Sanders making a visit and major policy speech in such a noteworthy setting.
According to the Concord Monitor, Sanders spoke over the weekend at St. Anselm College, a common setting for presidential hopefuls:
Sanders will deliver a speech entitled “The Agenda America Needs” at Saint Anselm College’s New Hampshire Institute of Politics that a release from the populist independent senator highlighted will “lay out a concrete agenda which speaks to the needs of a long-neglected working class.”
“I have always believed that good public policy is good politics,” the two-time runner-up for the Democratic presidential nomination said in a statement promoting the address. “The American people are increasingly disgusted at the growing levels of income and wealth inequality in our country and the rampant corporate greed we are seeing.”
And his latest trip to New Hampshire is sparking speculation.
President Joe Biden – whose approval ratings have remained in negative territory for nearly two years – appears to be keeping his distance from New Hampshire after the Democratic National Committee approved a presidential nomination calendar change suggested by Biden which moves the Granite State from its longtime and cherished leadoff position. With the state likely to hold an unsanctioned contest to keep its first-in-the-nation position, it’s doubtful that the president will step foot in New Hampshire until after the end of the primary schedule.
Why does it even matter? Joe Biden is supposedly the nominee for Democrats in 2024, case closed. That is, unless he’s not.
Bernie even went so far as to stream the event live on his YouTube channel since it was clear he wanted to mark it as a major policy and political speech.
Even some political analysts in New Hampshire seem somewhat skeptical or at least open to the possibility that it might not be Biden on the top of the ticket next year:
“We invited him, but he’s coming here for a reason,” New Hampshire Institute of Politics executive director Neil Levesque told the Monitor, as he discussed the Sanders speech. “I think it opens the door for a lot of other sorts of thoughts about whether or not Biden’s going to be the nominee, whether or not Biden is going to be running in next year’s presidential election.”
A visit like this, along with many other signs and questions, blows the door wide open for speculation that Biden isn’t going to make it all the way to the nomination stage in 2024. Whether he steps aside for health reasons or stays long enough to play kingmaker at a brokered convention, it seems less likely by the day that Biden makes it to Election Day in 2024 as the Democratic nominee.
Meanwhile, to further pour gasoline on the speculation over Biden’s status next year, Democrats seem livid that California Gov. Gavin Newsom seems to be leapfrogging his place in line by agreeing to debate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, according to NBC News:
California Gov. Gavin Newsom is increasingly being viewed as a nuisance to some of President Joe Biden’s political advisers, according to four people familiar with the matter.
Though Biden’s camp no longer sees Newsom as a wannabe challenger — and some in Biden’s orbit praise him for acting as a top campaign surrogate — Newsom’s plan to debate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on television carries more risk than potential reward, these people say.
That has caused consternation within Biden’s operation and among Vice President Kamala Harris’ allies.
Some Biden advisers have complained privately that the planned debate, which Fox News host Sean Hannity would moderate, could make voters think Newsom is running a shadow 2024 campaign at a time when most Democrats say they’d prefer a different candidate at the top of the ticket.
The humorous point from NBC is that Newsom is seen as more of a thorn to Vice President Kalama Harris than he is to Biden. Could that be due to the fact that Harris is widely viewed, arguably, as one of the worst vice presidents of all time?
It would be Harris–not Biden–fighting with Newsom for the party’s nod if Biden decides to drop out.
Democrats will only hold their fire so long if they start to believe the 2024 nomination is up for grabs.
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