There will be 21 people listed on the Democratic presidential primary ballot in New Hampshire next month, but one name will be conspicuously absent. President Joe Biden, assuming he was the candidate by default, never filed to run in the New Hampshire primary. But that “default” assumption isn’t looking quite so solid these days and some of the Big Guy’s supporters are getting nervous. So a few of them have hastily launched a super PAC and begun an advertising campaign asking people to write in Biden’s name and demonstrating how to do so. Having an incumbent show up as a write-in candidate is pretty much unique in American electoral history, but we’re living in unusual times. So will this work? And will it even matter who wins? (Boston Globe)

With just weeks before the state’s presidential primary, Democrats in New Hampshire are trying to lure volunteers from Massachusetts. They’ve reportedly launched a fledgling super PAC. On Thursday, they took the obvious, if extraordinary, step of modeling exactly how they want voters to fill out their ballot on Jan. 23.

Vote Joe Biden, they say. Or rather, write “Joe Biden.”

This multipronged effort to convince voters to write in the president’s name underscores the politically difficult — and fundamentally strange — effort before them: to convince voters not only to show up at the polls next month but also cast a ballot for someone who intentionally chose to keep his name off it.

This effort simply reeks of desperation. If Joe Biden is still convinced he will be the party’s nominee and that he’s on the way to a second term, why would he bother trying to win the New Hampshire primary? That’s particularly true since the DNC previously stated that there wasn’t going to be a primary, but they can’t stop the individual states from holding one.

This move carries some risks, however. What happens if Biden loses? That sends a terrible message to the White House and the Democratic Party in general. At least in theory, they shouldn’t have too much to worry about. A recent poll showed that two-thirds of registered Democrats plan to write in Biden’s name. However, that same poll indicated that only one-quarter of them would be “enthusiastic” if Biden were the nominee next November.

Another complicating factor is the Granite State’s open primary voting system. Independent voters with no party affiliation can vote in either primary they choose. Since the Republican primary is still theoretically up in the air, many of them are expected to gravitate in that direction. By contrast, most registered Democrats likely don’t see much point in the primary if Joe Biden is just going to be the nominee anyway, so a lot of them may stay at home. When turnout is dramatically lower than usual, strange results can sometimes be produced. For all we know, RFK Jr. or Marianne Williamson might wind up walking away with the blue ribbon.

None of this may wind up mattering anyway. Biden has been facing calls to drop out from within his own party for some time now. I’ve seen multiple analysts in recent weeks saying that Uncle Joe will take yet another break over the holidays, talk it over with his wife, and announce that he’s changed his mind right after New Year’s. I’m not sure I’m buying that prediction and his handlers would definitely prefer to keep their puppet around so they can hang on to power for as long as possible. But Joe’s poll numbers continue to look dire and Trump has pulled ahead of him in many surveys. The Democrats would rather have anyone with a “D” after their name in office than Donald Trump, so they may be desperate enough to throw a Hail Mary here. It should be interesting to observe, whichever way this winds up going.