Back in 2020 he was a supposed frontrunner struggling to look like one, fresh off a sluggish performance in the 2020 Iowa caucuses. He asked New Hampshire voters to help him flip the narrative and deliver him a comeback. He snarked back at critics, belittled a younger challenger and called one woman “a lying, dog-faced pony soldier” at a campaign event.
Then he skipped his own campaign party, headed to South Carolina, and finished a distant fifth in New Hampshire’s primary, faring worse than the former mayor of a midsized Midwestern city.
It kind of sounds like the DNC does have the authority on when primaries happen. That’s how the party system works. I don’t mich care for it, and it isn’t a democratic process, but it never has been.
Obama wasn’t an upset. The DNC was not aligned behind Clinton the way they were in 2015. It was a wide open primary, with Edwards, Biden, even Dodd and Richardson had some early momentum. When it became clear that it would be a showdown between Clinton and Obama, Obama was the one to secure critical endorsements and backing of the party. That’s how he won (although, notably, he lost New Hampshire).
I agree with you that the DNC puts their thumb on the scale to keep progressives on the outside, but you’re kidding yourself if you think that started in 2008.
I don’t think we will see a change in the party in 2028. I think that the party will again try to manipulate the primary calendar for political gain. The only question is whether New Hampshire will resist and demand to be first, or if the state will fall in line. Which is good or bad? Neither is either. The system sucks a polar bear’s funky ass.
What in the fuck did I ever say to give you the impression that things were going to stop getting worse?
Yeah, and who challenged Obama in the 2012 DNC primary? Spoiler: nobody. Because he was the incumbent and that gives you a massive advantage that nobody in their right mind would ever give up.
This is standard practice, stop acting like this is somehow unique or concerning in any way whatsoever.
That’s my point. I don’t even understand what you’re arguing about now. Are you trying to pretend you agreed with me the whole time?