Biden surrogates struggle to avoid what could be an embarrassing loss in New Hampshire

MANCHESTER, N.H. — President Biden’s campaign team is scrambling to win Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary despite the decision to leave his name off the ballot.

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and California Rep. Rho Khanna are hosting events around the Granite State this weekend to promote the president’s write-in campaign.

There are 21 candidates on the Democratic ballot for the presidential nomination. At the top of the list is Rep. Dean Phillips, who has been barnstorming the state to attract Democrats and independents disenchanted with Mr. Biden and former President Donald Trump, the GOP’s front-runner.

Mr. Phillips, of Minnesota, garners about 20% of Democratic support in some New Hampshire polls. He trails Mr. Biden by 30 points, but the president’s team isn’t risking what would be an embarrassing loss on Tuesday.

Ms. Wu and Mr. Khanna are urging New Hampshire voters to write in Mr. Biden, who was purposely left off the ballot after the Democratic National Committee awarded the first party primary to South Carolina in February.

“We have a very important choice ahead of us. And we need a leader with the temperament, with the tenacity and with the team around them to move us forward. We have that leader now,” Ms. Wu told a crowd in Nashua on Saturday.

She showed up in Manchester later in the morning and handed out Dunkin’ Donuts coffee to volunteers standing outside in frigid cold weather at another Biden write-in event.

The Democratic National Committee snubbed New Hampshire’s historic first-in-the-nation position in the primary schedule based on the 2020 results that left Mr Biden in fifth place here. His dramatic loss led many to predict his 2020 campaign might be over. Then came his victory in South Carolina, reviving his bid for the presidency.

New Hampshire officials defied the DNC and scheduled the Democratic primary for this Tuesday, Jan. 23. Mr. Biden decided not to participate and now risks losing to Mr. Phillips.

A political action committee associated with the Biden write-in effort has spent more than a million dollars, much of it on bombarding voters with mailers urging them to write in his name.

The president hasn’t attended any campaign events here, and the bid to get voters to write his name on the bottom of the ballot comes amid poll numbers showing his approval ratings falling, particularly on border security and the economy.

An ABC News/Ipsos poll released this week found that only 31% like Mr. Biden’s handling of the economy. His disapproval rating is 56%.
Mr. Phillips, meanwhile, is playing up Mr. Biden’s absence in New Hampshire with an advertisement depicting Bigfoot looking for the president.

“Why write him in when he’s written us off?” Bigfoot asks after searching the state for the absent president.

Some voters say they’re miffed by Mr. Biden’s decision not to come here and aren’t enthusiastic about writing him in.

“I would like to see someone younger,” Ann Scholtz of Northwood said as she awaited a Phillips campaign event in Manchester.  “A fresh face.”