The new calendar for the 2024 Democratic presidential primary:
DNC's Rules & Bylaws cmte APPROVES Biden's 2024 early window primary calendar plan:
Feb 3: South Carolina
Feb. 6: New Hampshire and Nevada.
Feb 13: Georgia
Feb. 27: Michigan(2 members in opposition – from IA + NH).
— Ken Thomas (@KThomasDC) December 2, 2022
Two brief observations: First, the new calendar will make the already difficult task of defeating Joe Biden in a Democratic primary even tougher in 2024. Three of the four dates on the February 2024 calendar are reserved for states Biden won easily in 2020.
Second, the new calendar could be a long-term blow to the Bernie Sanders wing of the party. After a string of early victories in 2020, Sanders was crushed in South Carolina by nearly 30 points, and in 2016 he lost South Carolina by 47 points after his 22-point win over Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire.
The importance of New Hampshire and Nevada — both of which Sanders carried in 2020 — is diminished by the fact that they vote a mere three days after South Carolina. Whoever wins South Carolina could get a big bounce in New Hampshire and Nevada. And even if the winner of South Carolina lost New Hampshire and/or Nevada, he or she would still be well-positioned to bounce back in Georgia, a state with demographics closer to South Carolina, just a week later.