I asked this question about Joe Biden's visit to New Hampshire on Tuesday: why is Biden going there right in the middle of the campaign when New Hampshire should be a state that he shouldn't even be worrying about? It hasn't gone red since Al Gore ran in 2000.
But as I noted, recent polling from the NH Journal/Praecones Analytica Poll had them basically even with Trump slightly up 36.6 to 36.5. Robert F. Kennedy Jr is at 14. 6 percent and undecided is at 12.4 percent. Prior polling from January had Biden up by 6.5 in the RCP average.
I wrote about his visit to New Hampshire to talk about the PACT Act and how he couldn't even get the name out correctly. So he didn't exactly impress anyone with his words.
But the reaction to the speech that he was able to generate, or perhaps not generate, was also something. You would normally think that someone who's allegedly the leader of the free world would be able to draw a lot of people. Instead, you'd have more tables, people, and excitement at the senior center on bingo night, some observed. It looked like he couldn't even fill a room, which is a very sad showing.
It looked like they had a few select attendees for the speech and that was it.
The scene from Nashua, NH awaiting @JoeBiden arrival.@nhgop @nhdems pic.twitter.com/YaEULoOKMH
— NH Journal (@NewHampJournal) May 21, 2024
As the NH Journal observed, there were more Trump folks who had been lined up along the road outside against Biden than people inside.
But comparing it to bingo wasn't exactly fair, the NH Journal noted, because bingo was actually fun.
After Biden’s speech, he worked the small crowd, taking photos and donning his iconic aviator sunglasses. There was none of the celebrity buzz that big-time politicians usually inspire. Democratic operatives gossiped in corners. Karine Jean-Pierre was texting distractedly on her iPhone. Asked about the new poll showing Biden in trouble in New Hampshire, she said she couldn’t address something so overtly political and suggested Rep. Annie Kuster, who was standing nearby.
Kuster was a “no comment,” then quickly fled.
And so it went. No rallying cry from Biden urging patriots to embrace his cause. No “The only poll that matters is on Election Day!” No “New Hampshire is Biden Country.” Just political hacks dodging questions and looking for the nearest door.
“That was really bad, wasn’t it?” one confused reporter asked when it was all over. “What was the point?”
Can you "feel the excitement?"
The mockery of Biden was fast and furious. New Hampshire state Rep. Keith Ammon asked if they were "still practicing social distancing?"
Are they still practicing social distancing?
— Rep. Keith Ammon (@RepKeithAmmon) May 21, 2024
Waiting for someone to yell "Bingo"
— dcnh (@davec_NH) May 21, 2024
Biden can't even get hardcore Dems to come out and see him babble insanely. Quite hilarious but VERY telling about the lack of support he has #NHPolitics https://t.co/ZJiaQJGwBs
— Kimberly Morin (@Conservativeind) May 21, 2024
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