Democrats struggle to narrow the field as New Hampshire prepares to vote
MANCHESTER, N.H. – Democrats’ hopes that New Hampshire voters might bring clarity to the chaotic fight for their party’s presidential nomination were fading Monday as the state’s primary election neared, with the wide swath of voters seeking a moderate candidate continuing to resist coalescing behind any one contender.
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders seems to be solidifying his support among voters on the party’s left, boxing out Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, according to multiple polls of the state’s voters, but the battle among centrists to leave New Hampshire as the clear alternative to him appears likely to continue long after candidates exit the state.
“This is just getting started,” former Vice President Joe Biden said in an interview Monday on CBS’ “This Morning.”
Biden’s plunge in support in the days leading up to Tuesday’s primary here has left the moderate lane wide open to other candidates, but he has sought to downplay the importance of New Hampshire and its heavily white electorate.
“Nothing is going to happen until we get to a place _ and around the country – where there is much more diversity,” he said.
Amid Democrats’ continued uncertainty about their choices, President Donald Trump plans to bring his postimpeachment victory lap to the state, seeking to troll the opposition with a rally scheduled for Monday night.
“Want to shake up the Dems a little bit – they have a really boring deal going on,” Trump wrote on Twitter, in a post that jibed at the Democratic candidates and their Iowa caucuses meltdown of last week. “Still waiting for the Iowa results, votes were fried.”
Trump narrowly lost this state in the 2016 election, and his campaign has targeted it as one that potentially could be flipped in 2020 and whose four electoral votes could make the difference in a close race. The night before his arrival, Trump’s supporters began pitching tents outside the arena where he is scheduled to speak. That enthusiasm contrasted with the anxiety pervading Democratic ranks.
Centrist Democrats here have been bouncing among a cluster of candidates. Many have gravitated toward former South Bend, Ind., mayor Pete Buttigieg, but tracking polls suggest his momentum may have stalled over the weekend as his rivals pounded away at him, with Biden in particular questioning his experience and fitness for office.
Over the weekend, Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota moved into position for a strong showing. Two tracking polls of the state’s voters have shown her edging into a possible third place behind Buttigieg and Sanders.
“We can’t be sure because tracking polls are a quick snapshot of where voters are,” said David Paleologos, the director of the Suffolk University Political Research Institute, which runs one of the surveys. “Is it a spike that will come back down or is it a continuation?”