{"id":10069,"date":"2024-01-23T20:35:25","date_gmt":"2024-01-23T20:35:25","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","slug":"Democrats-react-to-no-Joe-Biden-on-the-ballot-53794783\/","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/?p=10069","title":{"rendered":"NH Democrats write in Biden despite name missing from ballot"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Democrats
Democrats who both voted for and against Biden Tuesday said his choice to boycott the New Hampshire primary had little influence over their choice.\u00a0Laura Magzis, the lone sign-holder outside the Beaver Meadow Elementary polling station at lunchtime Tuesday, is not pleased that President Joe Biden chose not to participate in the New Hampshire primary Tuesday. That did\u00a0not stop her from volunteering for the write-in Biden effort.\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"Janet
Janet Benard gestures toward supporters of President Joe Biden as she enters a polling site to cast a write-in ballot for the president in the New Hampshire presidential primary in Manchester, N.H., Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024. (AP Photo\/David Goldman)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/figure>

Laura Magzis, the lone sign-holder outside the Beaver Meadow Elementary polling station at lunchtime Tuesday, was not pleased that President Joe Biden chose not to participate in the New Hampshire primary.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s a mistake. And it seems a little churlish,\u201d Magzis said. \u201cBut I think it\u2019s important to look at the big picture \u2014 and in the big picture, that\u2019s minor.\u201d<\/p>\n

The word unprecedented can be used to describe a lot of things about the 2024 New Hampshire presidential primary \u2014 that the incumbent did not appear on his party\u2019s ballot here was certainly one of them. The write-in Biden effort \u2014 an unsanctioned campaign working to ensure that Biden will win New Hampshire\u2019s renegade Democratic primary \u2014 had sign holders like Magzis volunteering at polling stations across the state.<\/p>\n

Among Democrats in Concord, the effort appeared to win wide support: regardless of how they felt about the president snubbing their state, they were resolved that he should come out of its election looking secure.<\/p>\n

Preventing another Trump presidency was top-of-mind for Suzanne Ellinwood while voting at Christa McAuliffe School. She felt the best way to do that was to maintain a united front.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s disappointing that the Democratic Party made the decision to put South Carolina in front of us. We still have to write in the president,\u201d said Ellinwood, 62.<\/p>\n

While defeating Trump is a priority, changing her party registration to support his Republican rival Nikki Haley was never on the table.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just seems cheap… I shouldn\u2019t have to do that,\u201d Ellinwood said. \u201cI don\u2019t want Haley \u00a0\u00a0to be president either.\u201d<\/p>\n

While she considered Congressman Dean Phillips, Ellinwood\u00a0said\u00a0party unity was crucial to setting Democrats up for success in November.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that splitting the vote just hands Donald Trump the presidency.\u201d<\/p>\n

A few blocks away at the Green Street Community Center, Josh Kirn also voted for Biden despite feeling let down by his decision not to campaign in New Hampshire.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat do I think about that?\u201d Kirn, 52, responded when asked about the party spat that led to the write-in campaign. \u201cNothing you could print in the paper.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0Kirn sees Biden as the strongest option among Democrats on or off the ballot \u2014 which, he admitted, may not be a good thing, saying that the party\u2019s lack of a formidable new guard is \u201can existential crisis.\u201d But while Biden is \u201cnot necessarily\u201d his ideal candidate, Kirn defended the president\u2019s record of passing infrastructure funding and steadying the economy.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is the best possible person at the moment, who has done an amazing job over the last four years of pulling things together from where they were,\u201d Kirn said.<\/p>\n

In contrast to speculation that refusing to campaign\u00a0in New Hampshire could cost Biden here,\u00a0many of those who did not support him said his absence had little to do with their choice.<\/p>\n

Esther Hayward, 80, is a registered Democrat who said she often takes advantage of the write-in line. This election was no different, but she didn\u2019t put down Biden\u2019s name.<\/p>\n

While Hayward said it was wrong for Biden to shun the primary, it was his age that made her look elsewhere.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t have run at my age,\u201d Hayward said.<\/p>\n

Hayward said she would definitely support Biden if he faced off against Trump in November. But if it were Haley, she\u2019d go the other way.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like a lot of her ideas,\u201d said Hayward, noting that she is unafraid to vote for Republicans. \u201cAnd it\u2019s time. It\u2019s time for a woman.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rebecca Wolfe, a 32-year-old Democrat from Ward 7 whose three children joined her, said she is \u201cneutral\u201d about both Biden and the write-in campaign. Her vote for Marianne Williamson was purely a policy- and values-based decision, she said.<\/p>\n

For its organizers, the write-in campaign is, in a way, an effort to save Biden and the DNC from themselves: he may be choosing not to run here and the party may deem New Hampshire\u2019s primary \u201cmeaningless,\u201d but they\u2019ve expressed concern that a loss for him here could be embarrassing, if not substantive long-term. New Hampshire Democrats\u00a0have warned that dissing a purple state constituency might hurt Biden in November when even the state\u2019s four electoral college votes could be decisive.<\/p>\n

That warning may be overstated.\u00a0The few Concord Democrats who said they held Biden\u2019s absence against him today \u2013\u00a0like Cathy and Dennis Mayo \u2013\u00a0will still back\u00a0him in November.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe should\u2019ve come to at least campaign and tell us the things he\u2019s done and accomplished and why we should still vote for him,\u201d Cathy Mayo said. \u201cBecause he didn\u2019t, we decided to go with Dean Phillips.\u201d<\/p>\n

Overall, though, the Mayos approve of Biden\u2019s record, and they said they will support him in any general election matchup.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s very capable. Because he\u2019s older, he knows the whole routine,\u201d Cathy Mayo said. \u201cAnd he\u2019s the president.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Laura Magzis, the lone sign-holder outside the Beaver Meadow Elementary polling station at lunchtime Tuesday, was not pleased that President Joe Biden chose not to participate in the New Hampshire primary.\u201cI think it\u2019s a mistake. And it seems a little…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":93,"featured_media":10070,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","_newspack_byline_active":true,"_newspack_byline":"by [Author id=93]Catherine McLaughlin[\/Author] Monitor staff","newspack_content_restriction_is_exempt":false,"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,508],"tags":[24,25],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[553],"class_list":["post-10069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","category-top-headlines-cm","tag-facebook","tag-primary-2024","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/42759754-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/93"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10069"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10069\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10071,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10069\/revisions\/10071"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10069"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fnewspack_spnsrs_tax&post=10069"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcoauthors&post=10069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}