The New Hampshire presidential primary is just five days away. I've covered every primary since 2008, and this time feels a little different. The GOP field has already been whittled down to three candidates — and winning the nomination is already a longshot for two of those three. The incumbent Democrat, President Biden, isn't even competing in the state after national Democrats tried removing New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation status.
The two scheduled Republican primary debates this week have been canceled after former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley pulled out because former President Trump wouldn't participate. Instead of tonight's axed ABC News-WMUR debate, Haley is participating in a CNN town hall.
What's happening today?: Haley is holding a handful of meet-and-greet events hovering around the southern epicenter of the state.
NBC News reports that New Hampshire Republicans are "disappointed" that Haley isn't "fighting harder" in the state. State Republicans are questioning her relatively light campaign schedule at a time when candidates generally blitz the Granite State — and are disappointed about her decision not to debate.
To be fair: Haley's campaign disputes that her schedule is light. "She landed at 4 a.m. the morning after Iowa and had a full day of local press, retail stops, meetings with voters, and a rally in the North Country," Haley campaign spokesperson Olivia Perez-Cubas said, adding that she briefly stopped in South Carolina to see her family.
What about Ron DeSantis?: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) isn't even in New Hampshire today. He left Wednesday evening and is returning Friday for a few events. CBS News reports that DeSantis will then spend Saturday and Sunday in South Carolina. DeSantis isn't making a big play in New Hampshire considering he is running a much more conservative campaign than New Hampshire's moderate libertarian leanings and is polling at just 5.7 percent in the state. DeSantis has pushed back on the idea that he's skipping the Granite State.
And Trump has never blitzed the Granite State: Since Trump's first presidential campaign in 2015, he has written his own playbook for campaigning. Instead of participating in New Hampshire's traditional, retail-style politics — diner stops, library visits, intimate town halls — he is opting for a limited number of large rallies and speeches. He has no public events scheduled today, according to NECN's candidate tracker, but will be holding a handful of events starting Friday, including one prime-time speech or rally a day until Tuesday.
And while he may not be holding as many campaign events, Trump has remained in center-focus in the GOP field this week. He appeared in court Wednesday as part of his ongoing legal battles and has been airing attack ads against Haley in New Hampshire.
New Hampshire Democrats are 'pissed' at Biden: Biden backed a plan to remove New Hampshire's century-old, first-in-the-nation primary tradition and hand it to South Carolina. That plan didn't work, but Biden didn't even put his name on the ballot. NBC News reports that state Democrats are "still pissed" but are trying to get supporters to write in Biden's name on Election Day.
Meanwhile — candidates that *are* blitzing the campaign trail: Long-shot Democratic presidential candidates Marianne Williamson and Rep. Dean Phillips (Minn.).
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