United States: the Democratic Party upsets the calendar of its future primaries
U.S. President Joe Biden departs for Boston, Maryland, U.S., December 2, 2022. REUTERS - EVELYN HOCKSTEIN
Text by: RFI Follow
1 min
Joe Biden wants to upset the schedule of the Democratic presidential primaries, and he may be able to do so.
The American president proposes that they no longer start in Iowa, a small state with a white majority, but in South Carolina, which has a large African-American population.
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For decades, black voters have been the backbone of the Democratic Party.
It's time to give them an earlier and more visible vote in the process.
»
Extract from the letter sent Thursday, December 1 by Joe Biden to the committee responsible for the operating rules of his political party.
Committee that approved this proposal on Friday – only representatives from Iowa and New Hampshire voted against.
It must be said that for five decades, these two states have been accustomed to the spotlight of the start of the primaries, which allows their candidates to attract enormous campaign funding, and to make very local demands heard at the national level.
Democrats have tried to change the schedule before, without success.
But unlike other presidents, Joe Biden owes nothing in particular to these two states.
In 2020, he finished fourth in Iowa and fifth in New Hampshire, and his campaign only really recovered when he won South Carolina, a state which – coincidentally – should open the ball rolling. .
The new calendar will be submitted to the vote of the entire party leadership next February.
The leader of the New Hampshire Democrats has already said that his state would organize its primaries "first".
►To re-read: United States: what political future for Joe Biden who is celebrating his 80th birthday?
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Joe Biden