President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign on Friday will register for the South Carolina Democratic primary, the party’s first official clash and an early enthusiasm test for a president dogged by a rash of recent polls that show declining support among Black voters. The state’s Feb. 3 primary will represent the first time Biden faces a contested election since 2020, squaring off against long shots Dean Phillips, a Minnesota congressman, and self-help guru Marianne Williamson. Vice President Kamala Harris is due to deliver remarks at a campaign event in Columbia and file registration papers together with James Clyburn, a South Carolina congressman and one of the nation’s most influential Black leaders. “The Biden-Harris coalition will be out in full force in South Carolina and will be how we defeat MAGA extremism once again in 2024,” said Michael Tyler, communications director for the re-election campaign. MAGA refers to the “Make America Great Again” movement of Republican frontrunner Donald Trump.
Quick Read
- Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to South Carolina to file paperwork for President Joe Biden’s 2024 presidential ballot.
- Rep. Jim Clyburn, a prominent Black leader in Congress, accompanied Harris during the visit to the state capital.
- South Carolina played a pivotal role in Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign, as his win there, boosted by Clyburn’s endorsement, helped him secure the Democratic nomination.
- Biden has focused on Pennsylvania, a key battleground state in the general election, since announcing his reelection bid, but Harris’s visit to South Carolina is part of a strategy to engage Black voters.
- Harris has been touring Historically Black Colleges and Universities to build excitement among voters of color.
- The visit aims to reinforce South Carolina’s importance as the first state to hold the Democratic presidential primary.
- Biden requested that the Democratic National Party move Iowa out of the leadoff position in favor of South Carolina in the 2024 primary calendar to ensure greater influence for Black and minority voters.
- The new 2024 primary calendar approved by the DNC places South Carolina’s primary on Feb. 3, followed by Nevada three days later, with Michigan also holding an early primary before Super Tuesday.
- Democrats hope to mobilize the Biden-Harris coalition in South Carolina to counter “MAGA extremism” in the 2024 election.
- Republicans will begin their 2024 primary with the Iowa caucus on Jan. 15, while New Hampshire plans to hold its primary in January despite the new calendar, citing its historical precedence in holding the nation’s first primary.
- Biden won’t appear on the New Hampshire ballot and is not planning to campaign there, but some Democrats in the state are organizing a write-in campaign to support his reelection bid.
- Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips, who challenged Biden in the 2024 Democratic primary, has filed to appear on both the New Hampshire and South Carolina ballots.
The Associated Press has the story:
Harris flew to S. Carolina to register Biden for 2024 Democratic Primary
Newslooks- COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP)
Vice President Kamala Harris flew to South Carolina on Friday to file paperwork putting President Joe Biden on the 2024 presidential ballot of the state that will lead off the Democratic presidential primary — thanks to a White House-led schedule overhaul meant to better empower Black voters.
Harris was joined in the state capital by Rep. Jim Clyburn, one of the leading Black voices in Congress. Then-candidate Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign was floundering after big losses in Iowa and New Hampshire, but rebounded with a decisive South Carolina win that was solidified by Clyburn’s late endorsement.
That 2020 boost gave Biden enough momentum to romp through Super Tuesday, clinch his party’s primary and later the White House. Since announcing his reelection bid in April, Biden has made far more frequent official visits to Pennsylvania — a key battleground in the general election — than states that will decide Democrats’ 2024 primary.
Harris’ South Carolina visit follows the vice president spending recent months traveling the country, including a college tour that has taken her to leading Historically Black Colleges and Universities. She’s looking to build excitement among voters of color at a time when polls show that even a majority of Democrats, believe Biden is too old to handle the rigors of a second term.
“South Carolina Democrats represent the backbone of the Democratic Party and propelled Joe Biden to the Democratic nomination and eventually the White House,” Biden reelection campaign spokesman Michael Tyler said in a statement. “The President is honored to have Vice President Harris and his campaign co-chair Congressman Clyburn officially make him a candidate, once again, in what is now proudly the first-in-the-nation primary.”
Iowa’s 2020 caucus was marred by technical glitches, and Biden asked last year that the Democratic National Party replace it in the leadoff spot with South Carolina. He said Black and other minority voters need to play a larger, earlier role in determining the Democratic presidential nominee.
The DNC approved a new 2024 calendar where South Carolina’s primary will on Feb. 3 will be followed three days later by Nevada. The schedule also moves Michigan into the group of early states voting before Super Tuesday on March 3, when most of the rest of the country holds primaries. DNC chair Jaime Harrison joined Clyburn at the airport for Harris’ arrival in Columbia.
“The Biden-Harris coalition will be out in full force in South Carolina and will be how we defeat MAGA extremism once again in 2024,” Taylor said, referring to former President Donald Trump, who has built a commanding early lead in next year’s Republican presidential primary, and his ”Make American Great Again” slogan.
Republicans are leading off their 2024 primary with the Iowa caucus on Jan. 15, and the state’s Democrats will caucus then, too, but not release the presidential results immediately to comply with party rules. New Hampshire, however, has rejected the new calendar and is planning to hold its primary in January, arguing that it has held the nation’s first primary for more than a century, a rule that Iowa was able to circumvent only because it had a caucus.
Biden won’t appear on the New Hampshire ballot and isn’t planning to campaign there, though some of the state’s top Democrats are organizing a write-in campaign backing his reelection bid. Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips, the only elected Democrat to challenge Biden in 2024, has already filed to appear on both the New Hampshire and South Carolina ballots.
