It's now two primaries: Biden and all the others

SAN FRANCISCO – The initiation phase of the Democratic presidential primary being over, the lines of engagement are beginning to emerge. And what emerges is a primary that is no longer a nomination contest, but two.

The first, which happens wherever Joe Biden materializes, is the leader's campaign against himself – his history of presidential failures, his propensity for gaffes, his need to adhere to new "limits of personal space protection".

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The other one includes everyone.

Nowhere else are the two primary tracks more striking than during the weekend, when Biden moved into Ohio, far from the horde of other Democratic candidates. While more than half of the population was jostling at the California Democratic Party's convention – the country's largest state rally – the former vice president had the lectern for himself at the time. A dinner of the human rights campaign Saturday, opposing his candidacy to any Democrat. but with the Republican President.

His appearance in the counter-programming recalled the last reminder that, given the great advances in the national polls and in several of the first state polls, Biden is running a race, respecting its own rules and schedule. The biggest threats to his campaign right now are his rivals, not just his advanced age and his ability to stay disciplined at a time when missteps are being scrutinized.

The other primary Democratic, which consumes everyone, seeks to know who can tackle the strike and become one of the few candidates still standing after the vote of the first four states in February.

"It's like a dog sled in Alaska," said Bob Mulholland, a member of California's National Democratic Committee. "If you're not the head dog, the view is the same all day … Biden, as a leader, does not have to be at every weekend barbecue. end. "

Alex Gallardo-Rooker, First Vice President of the State of California, said that she had talked on the phone with Biden and that he was not present solely because of the fact that he was not there. he had engaged in the campaign dinner for human rights, a sentiment echoed by the Biden campaign.

But the explanation was not universally recognized. Californian Senator Kamala Harris, one of Biden's rivals, threw her hands in the air when she was questioned about Biden's absence, while a strategist Democrats unaffiliated with a candidate described as brilliant "planning for a conflict event elsewhere". The planner who found this event and who locked it in this event deserves an increase. "

Unlike other candidates, Darry Sragow, a long-time Democratic strategist and publisher of the non-partisan California Object Book, who is crippling elections in the state, "Joe Biden does not need to come to California to run for office. to the people present in this room ".

"There is no need to go to this convention and engage in a scrum with all the other candidates," said Sragow, "because to a certain extent, his candidacy is justified by the fact that we have an incredible number of candidates who make fun of us. They are all fighting on the playing field, and at some point, Uncle Joe or his grandfather Joe must show up on the playing field and say: "Now, let's get down to business." And that's his candidacy. "

Biden and the other candidates, he said, "are just not on a level playing field."

This has never been as clear as in San Francisco, where the other Democratic primary took place. Fourteen different candidates – the largest menagerie of Democrats gathered in a unique place to date – have scrambled the cards in the sweat and alcohol-lined corridors of the party convention.

In his absence, Biden's opponents have launched veiled criticism from afar. Senator Elizabeth Warren said that although "some Democrats in Washington believe that the only changes we can achieve are adjustments and nudging … the time for small ideas is over." Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, in Indiana, said: "The most risky thing Senator Bernie Sanders warned Sunday:" We can not go back to the old way. We must move forward with a new and progressive program. "

Yet even this rhetoric seemed less designed to lower Biden than to separate himself from the multitude of others who ran behind him. Warren's call for free tuition at the university, for universal pre-school education and for student debt cancellation sparked a roar among the public that did not overshadow Biden, but Harris, the senator of native country.

Former representative Beto O'Rourke delivered his keynote address with more than a minute of remarks in Spanish. Former Colorado governor John Hickenlooper and former representative John Delaney, appealing to more moderate Democrats beyond the convention hall, knowingly recorded.

"It was a little cold war, and now it's starting to heat up," said Andrew Acosta, a Democratic strategist observing the convention from the back of the room. "Now they see each other closely and in person. That's the game. "

The emergence of the dual-lane primary road marks a turning point in the countryside. For months, the primaries had been held at a safe distance – a stream of candidates who largely deviated from each other as they headed for the first candidate states and on the air. nation. But the unexpected resilience and apparent sustainability of Biden's bid forced an acceleration of the pace.

"With so many candidates," said Anthony Rendon, Democratic President of the State Assembly of California, "there will come a time when people will begin to pay much more attention to people who are in the upper half. "

For candidates with the lowest voter turnout, the effort to enter primary school becomes increasingly difficult. With the end of the second quarter of fundraising and the first primary debate looming this month, Biden is not even on their radar.

In a performance that will be closely followed by Delaney the next day, Hickenlooper, who votes about 1% nationally, sparked a rare media interest Saturday with a reprimand from the expansive government.

"Socialism is not the solution," he said.

Washington Governor Jay Inslee, another low-voter Democrat, seized the next moment, posing as a "Governor who does not think we should be ashamed of our progressive values."

Prior to his speech, Hickenlooper had stated in an interview that he was not planning to be booed, but he understood the risks of his message to such an audience of activists. "I'm not just talking about this room, but I'm talking to a wider audience, right?", He said. "So, if I get calls, I'm fine."