PHILADELPHIA - The Democratic National Committee on Saturday approved President Joe Biden’s shake-up of the party’s 2024 primary calendar, giving black voters a greater say in the nominating process and carving an easier path for Mr Biden’s expected re-election bid.
The party’s vote on Saturday replaces the famed Iowa caucuses as the first in the nation with South Carolina, a state with significantly more black voters and one that saved Mr Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign.
It will be followed by New Hampshire and Nevada one week later, and then by primaries in Georgia and Michigan.
The promotion of South Carolina and Georgia reflects a demographic balancing decades in the making for the Democratic Party at the expense of two largely white states that rejected Mr Biden in 2020.
It also underscores the growing power of the racially diverse coalition that helped bring Mr Biden to power.
“The Democratic Party looks like America, so does this proposal,” said Mr Jaime Harrison, chairman of the Democratic National Committee.
The move faced opposition from leaders in Iowa and New Hampshire, who are being pushed down the nominating calendar and vowed to defy the new schedule and hold elections on their own schedule. Any change to those calendars would require support from Republicans who control the government and oppose the move.
Iowa and New Hampshire have kicked off the nominating season for decades and the process – in which candidates campaign for months in coffee shops and homes – has become a cherished part of their social and political identities.
Iowa and New Hampshire face penalties if they end up disobeying the party, such as having candidates barred from campaigning in the state or losing delegates. Officials warned on Saturday that this could hurt Mr Biden’s chances of winning those states in 2024.
In Georgia, Democrats want to move up the calendar, but Republicans in the state who control the government are opposed to the shift.
Georgia and New Hampshire have until June to comply with the new calendar, but few expect that to happen.
Mr Scott Brennan, a former party chairman in Iowa, said: “We can vote on this calendar, we can approve this calendar, but we will leave here with absolutely nothing settled.”
The conference underscored Mr Biden’s tightening grip on a party that was openly sceptical of his viability and concerned about his age heading into November’s midterm elections, only to see Democrats significantly outperform expectations and reset the narrative.
Already the oldest person to take on the role of president, Mr Biden would be 82 if sworn in for a second term.
Mr Biden’s primary calendar saw overwhelming approval through a voice vote and party committee members appeared enthusiastic for a Biden re-election when he addressed the crowd in Philadelphia on Friday.
“Let me ask you a simple question: Are you with me?“ Mr Biden asked the crowd of party faithful, to cheers and a chorus of “four more years”. REUTERS
