Like you, I am being inundated with mailings to write-in Joe Biden. You are wondering, “what’s the big deal?” since the Democratic National Committee has written off New Hampshire this year. I suppose that the big deal about the New Hampshire primary was never about the delegates going to the nominating convention, but rather about the buzz created for the winner of the first-in-the-nation primary. As such, we do still matter.
Next question, is it necessary to be wildly enthusiastic about candidate Joe Biden? Not this year, because this year, a vote for Joe Biden is a vote for democracy and the survival of the American experiment in self governing. So, as all those glossy mailers are trying to tell us, it is essential that Democrats and independents get to the polls (or pick up our absentee ballots) and write in Joe Biden for president.
I could suggest, as well, that those who are registered independent, or Republican, can also choose to write in Biden’s name on the Republican ticket. It won’t add to Biden’s totals on the Democratic slate, but New Hampshire needs to show the world that Trump can lose. If an independent, and you do this strategy, you need to re-register undeclared on your way out of the polling site. See you at the polls on Jan. 23!
Fred Portnoy
Canterbury