Democratic National Committee Votes to Change Primary Schedule, Puts South Carolina First
“This is a significant effort to make the presidential primary nominating process more reflective of the diversity of this country”
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) has voted to change their presidential primary schedule, putting the state of South Carolina first.
This looks like political payback for Democrat Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, who saved Joe Biden’s candidacy in 2020 after a string of primary losses.
The New York Times reports:
Democrats Overhaul Party’s Primary Calendar, Upending a Political Tradition
Upending decades of political tradition, members of the Democratic National Committee voted on Saturday to approve a sweeping overhaul of the Democratic primary process, a critical step in President Biden’s effort to transform the way the party picks its presidential nominees.
For years, Democratic nominating contests have begun with the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary, a matter of immense pride in those states, and a source of political identity for many highly engaged residents.
But amid forceful calls for a calendar that better reflects the racial diversity of the Democratic Party and the country — and after Iowa’s 2020 meltdown led to a major delay in results — Democrats endorsed a proposal that would start the 2024 Democratic presidential primary circuit on Feb. 3 in South Carolina, the state that resuscitated Mr. Biden’s once-flailing candidacy. It would be followed by New Hampshire and Nevada on Feb. 6, Georgia on Feb. 13 and then Michigan on Feb. 27.
“This is a significant effort to make the presidential primary nominating process more reflective of the diversity of this country, and to have issues that will determine the outcome of the November election part of the early process,” said Representative Debbie Dingell, a Michigan Democrat who has vigorously pushed for moving up her state’s primary.
It’s a calendar that in many ways rewards the racially diverse states that propelled Mr. Biden to the presidency in 2020.
The talking points have gone out. The folks at MSNBC claim this is all about ‘diversity’ and returning power to the people.
‘They are looking at the changing demographics of this country and putting the power back in the people's hands.” Political strategist Alencia Johnson on Democrats making South Carolina the first presidential primary state. https://t.co/tWwWFIywyR pic.twitter.com/wb33FJhyba
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) February 5, 2023
The Associated Press is repeating the party line as well:
Dems reshuffle primaries to stress diversity over tradition
The Democratic Party on Saturday approved reordering its 2024 presidential primary, replacing Iowa with South Carolina in the leadoff spot as part of a major shake-up meant to empower Black and other minority voters critical to its base of support.
Although more changes are possible later this year, the formal endorsement by the Democratic National Committee during its meeting in Philadelphia is an acknowledgement that the start of the 2024 primary will look very different from the one in 2020. Hundreds of party stalwarts climbed to their feet and cheered after the easy passage by voice vote.
States with early contests play a major role in determining the nominee because White House hopefuls struggling to raise money or gain political traction often drop out before visiting states outside the first five. Media attention and policy debates concentrate in those areas, too.
The truth is that this is all about giving Joe Biden an advantage, but the media can’t admit it.
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Comments
I really think it would be more efficient if Beijing voted first. That would be much more efficient for the Dem leadership.
Well, they sent a balloon loaded with ballots and it got shot down.
I’d hold out for Guam.
Oh? Did you get a tip?
:-{)}}}
Don’t rock the boat!
More sleight of hand. No substance. Typical Democrat playbook antics.
The DNC’s Iowa 2020 vote counting debacle still hasn’t been resolve, so I imagine S.C. will be just as eff’d up to facilitate more vote rigging.
It’s mostly about assisting Biden in 2024 but that’s not all of it. There has been a long-term discussion in political circles about removing NH and Iowa from their perch. The shift may not be as beneficial as they hope. SC presents a different electorate culturally than NH or Iowa that go beyond racial issues. These voters, even d/prog, are not interchangeable with the d/prog voters of NH and Iowa. I would expect that over time this shift will pull the d/prog candidates towards the center on many ‘culture war issues’ that don’t have widespread approval in the local churches. Like it or not the churches play a large role in southern d/prog party politics and some issues, like trans gender aren’t compatible.
Cynical to do it now. Par for the course for Biden, whose credo is “Biden First!”
In February SC is a lot more pleasant than Iowa or NH. Plus they have half way decent BBQ since they are so close to us here in NC. Here BBQ is a noun, not a verb.
Vinegar based sauce?
Yep – Ugh.
Yeah, vinegar-based is not “half way decent.” It’s not even 5% decent.
Fortunately, “graft” is still both.
So… what happens if the Republicans running the South Carolina legislature don’t vote to hold a statewide election on that day?
As a South Carolinian, I was wondering about that, too. Haven’t lived here that many years, but I was thinking our Primary Election Day is a set day. Hmmm…
Going into South Carolina, 2020, the leading Democrat candidate was the Commie from Vermont.
And then, despite the cradle of the Confederacy being a heavily Republican state, the black Americans in South Carolina came out overwhelmingly for Biden, etc., und so weiter, ad nauseam.
Thanks, black Americans in South Carolina!
You are right. I was here in SC for that election, and something very odd happened here. Rep. Clyburn was the driving force in that election – but they successfully painted Biden as a victim of the machine in New England that was trying to get rid of ol’ Joe and push Bernie. I have followed Biden’s politics and clumsy mistakes for the past 40 years and can’t stand the guy – but even I started to feel sorry for him leading into the SC primary. They were very effective in creating a sympathetic narrative for him!
Where’s the Squad, shrieking about something being tit-for-tat?
honestly, I am okay with anything that takes Iowa (and corn) off the docket for choosing our president. How about a rotating first primary?
You and me both. The whole King Corn ethanol thing needs to die.
Yes indeed. Nearly every Senator and many HoR members believe they have a shot at being President someday and they uniformly kowtow to Ethanol. The only Presidential candidate who publicly went against ethanol subsidies was ….Ted Cruz.
He actually won the Iowa primary in 2016 which should have emboldened the other politicians to finally rollback these stupid subsidies and mandates. Nope, they went back to sucking up to the ethanol lobby.
This is going to be fun. I read the other day NH has a law saying they must hold their primary something like two weeks before any other primary.
Will be interesting to see how the dems tell new hampshire to eat schiff and die.
No problem. The state will just hold the D’s primary for them, whether they participate or not.
And those delegates won’t be seated at the convention, or will have only half a vote, or some other penalty.
Doubtful. Those 4 electoral votes may be critical and NH is the most likely northeastern state to flip.
They would probably have blooter delegates yell when NH casts their vote and leave it there.
The RNC and DNC are both non-profit corporations – they are not government entities. Why do we allow these NPC’s to hijack our state election apparatus every 2 or 4 years in order to conduct their primaries?