Arnie Arnesen

Give me the stuttering old man over the racist, sexist, lying fascist

This is a bottom up election.

No, our choice at the top — President Joe Biden — does not inspire.

But the threat of MAGA fascism, dressed up as populism, gives a level of urgency to check every Democratic box we can check in 2024: congressional races, statehouse races, county commissioner races, deputy dog catcher.

Let's face it: Our presidential choice is between a racist, sexist, lying, fascist amoeba, or a stuttering old man who nevertheless supports policies to protect women's health, the environment and public education; a warrior against corporate collusion to raise prices, drive down wages and slash regulations that protect the safety of everything from the drugs we depend on to the food we eat.

Is that really a choice?

But for many Americans, it’s so much easier to support the liar who feeds the myth that he alone can fix the nation’s problems — of course, what Trump claims he is going to fix, he never fixes, and ironically, the reason so much is broke, is because he broke it.

It’s more difficult for those same Americans to back a guy who asks "us" to make our economy work for all Americans — and not the corporate cronies that Trump the amoeba snuggles up to, promising them access to unlimited wealth and power at the expense of the rest of us.

I urged the old guy not to run back in March 2023 because the urgency of the moment demanded a more inspiring leader.

But it is too late. Democrats must ride with Biden, faults and all, or watch democracy die in darkness.

The inspiration and motivation to do so must come from us in the face of the all-out MAGA assault on our life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.

I have found the leader, and that leader is me, that leader is you, that leader is the millions of Americans who believe in a just, inclusive, sustainable future.

Arnie Arnesen is the host of syndicated radio program "The Attitude with Arnie Arnesen." A former fellow at the Harvard Institute of Politics, she was the 1992 Democratic nominee for governor of New Hampshire and served as a member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives from 1984 to 1992.

You blew it in New Hampshire, Joe Biden. Pray it doesn’t hurt you — and then some.

CONCORD, N.H. — You blew it Joe.

The decision by you and "your advisers" to reward Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC) by attempting to make South Carolina the first-in-the-nation Democratic primary in 2024 was one of the biggest political blunders in your decades-long time in public service.

You have said over and over that you might have skipped a 2024 re-election bid if it were not for Donald Trump, because you see Trump posing a unique threat to the United States and to democracy itself.

So while we know the 2024 general election may very well be a rematch of 2020, you are the incumbent this time and Trump is not. And despite his enormous lead in the Republican primary, coupled with the many pundits who are debating what color prison jumpsuit Trump will soon be wearing, all the GOP candidates running against him have been waging a war against you, not him.

By skipping January’s New Hampshire primary in protest of it leap-frogging your beloved South Carolina, you may have very well undercut your ability to fight the very anti-democratic force you say you’re in this race to slay.

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Let’s review: Because the GOP has kept the traditional, first-in-the-nation calendar for their New Hampshire presidential primary, all the Republican candidates — save for unabashed anti-Trumper Chris Christie — have made their time in Iowa and New Hampshire an opportunity to declare war on Biden and dance around Trump. And you, sir, are MIA. You are not on the primary ballot. You have not campaigned here in New Hampshire. You are entirely resting on the laurels of your 7-percentage-point victory over Trump in the 2020 general election — an advantage that’s hardly guaranteed in 2024 when every last electoral vote might count. (Thanks, but no thanks, South Carolina).

So, in January, New Hampshire will nevertheless conduct a presidential primary as is demanded by the statutes of my state. New Hampshire state law dictates that the presidential primary for both the Republican and Democratic parties must occur before any other in the nation — "7 days or more immediately preceding the date on which any other state shall hold a similar election."

Given that the presidential primary is run by the state of New Hampshire, and not by the Republican or Democratic parties, a primary for both parties will be held. Republican voters and undeclared voters that have chosen a Republican ballot on Primary Day will have a reason to vote – and their vote will matter. Dems will also have a primary, but it is little more than a rogue primary … not recognized by the Democratic National Committee. In fact, when the state of New Hampshire holds the legally required primary, it could actually lead to the national party penalizing New Hampshire Democrats and the Democratic presidential candidates who campaign here.

Yippee!

So the date has been set, a primary will be held, millions of dollars will be spent on ads attacking you, and we have to ask, “What value will this rogue presidential primary hold for New Hampshire Democrats?”

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To vote or not to vote, that is the question now before New Hampshire voters. But vote for what? There are currently 21 folks appearing on the New Hampshire Democratic Primary ticket (heck, cough up $1,000 and you, too, can be a presidential candidate in New Hampshire.).

But no Joe.

So write Biden in? What does that get you? If not enough people write you in, will the media spin it as a poor showing? (Traditionally, write-in campaigns are successful when there is a passion, either around the candidate or the issue at stake. Passion for Joe, if there ever was any, has faded like so many of the policy hopes and dreams we held four years ago.)

Voters could also show up to vote and leave the ballot blank as an expression of disgust.

They could vote for spiritual self-help guru Marianne Williamson or little-known, increasingly hated Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN) who could use his multi-million-dollar personal wealth in a vain attempt to package himself as a younger, more energetic Biden.

All the choices suck, and the only thing you, Mr. President, have created by this misstep is a vehicle for competing, self-defeating messages that will be interpreted in self-serving ways by the media, the Republican opposition and even members of your own party you so desperately need in November. This is more danger than help, and you and the DNC invited a problem your campaign did not need and now cannot manage.

You may have better things to do these days: Attempting to manage the complex and tragic war between Israel and Hamas, eroding support for the continuing war in Ukraine, discontent with the economy — have you looked at the cost of groceries recently? — and the real-life consequences of climate change.

But when you finally roll your campaign into South Carolina after months of giving your opponents free shots at you and perhaps even bruising faith within the Democratic Party, folks won't give a crap ... the damage will be done.

Your mistake made, please figure out — and fast — how to reverse your blunder and stanch your losses.

No pressure: Only the very fate of our democracy may depend on it.

Arnie Arnesen is the host of syndicated radio program "The Attitude with Arnie Arnesen." A former fellow at the Harvard Institute of Politics, Arnesen was the 1992 Democratic nominee for governor of New Hampshire and served as a member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives from 1984 to 1992.

15 things Biden should say when asked about his age

CONCORD, N.H. — For those of us who live in New Hampshire — home of the first-in-the-nation presidential primary — the scent of presidential aspirations factors into our air quality index, even if it’s limited to GOP whiffs this year, as the Democrats moved South Carolina into the number one slot for 2024.

I did not vote for Joe Biden in the 2020 primary. I am on record urging Biden not to run in 2024.

But as I was recently listening to the MSNBC “Morning Joe” talking heads singing dirges about Joe's polling numbers and age — he’ll be 82 on Inauguration Day 2025 — I got ticked off.

POLL: Should Trump be allowed to run for office?

You see, this is not Biden's election, this is not the Democratic National Committee's election, this is my election, your election, our election. I don't give a damn if Biden is 82, 92 or 102. I care about the policies he will focus on as president.

With scant exception, all of the GOP candidates from Donald Trump on down have made their intentions clear: they will methodically erode what is left of our political, social and environmental order. Following precedent, they will deploy their minions to pack our courts and government agencies with an agenda defined by revenge and destruction, eviscerating policies that serve justice, equity, transparency and fairness. Our country and our planet will not recover.

We have a clearly delineated choice in 2024. Biden is our vehicle du jour, but the issues are the driver.

Whenever the issue of age arises, as it inevitably will time and again, voters need to hear the following from Biden in a clear and assured voice:

“Well, I know I’m not getting any younger, but I'm not waging a war on women.”

“I’m not getting younger, but I will not allow members of Congress or governors or state legislators or others to effectively sit in the exam rooms of doctors who are trying to provide safe and effective healthcare.”

“I’m not getting younger, but I’m not lying to you about the urgency of the climate crisis, and I’m not too old to recognize that our hottest summer on record suggests that the climate breakdown may have already begun.”

“I’m not getting younger, but I’m not trying to prevent Black and Brown people, young people or the poor, from accessing the vote.”

“I’m not getting younger, but I will challenge the immorality and injustice of a tax structure that allows the richest corporations and individuals in America to pay less taxes than a plumber or a bus driver.”

“I’m not getting younger, but I support the scientific and medical expertise of our Food and Drug Administration to have the final word on which medicines are safe and effective, like mifepristone.”

“I’m not getting younger, but I believe our children have a right to learn America’s complicated history … being honest with our children and ourselves provides us with a roadmap for repair and unparalleled success.”

“I’m not getting younger, but I view book banning as an assault on freedom of thought and a form of censorship.”

“I’m not getting younger, but I will protect the rights of LGBTQ+ individuals.”

“I’m not getting younger, but I find it terrifying that one out of every 20 Americans own an AR-15. I would support an assault weapons ban.”

“I’m not getting younger, but I believe that the enormous weight of student debt is eating our seed corn and the burden must be reduced.”

“I’m not getting younger, but I will protect the rights of workers.”

“I’m not getting younger, but I refuse to allow protections for child labor, enacted nearly a century ago, to be dismantled.”

“I’m not getting younger, but I am not dismantling the separation of Church and State.”

“I’m not getting younger but I am not a tool of the Federalist Society.”

If Biden stands on these principles, and unequivocally asserts them over and over again in the face of would-be tyrants, the pundits bitching about his age will become irrelevant.

Arnie Arnesen is the host of syndicated radio program "The Attitude with Arnie Arnesen". A former fellow at the Harvard Institute of Politics, Arnesen was the 1992 Democratic nominee for governor of New Hampshire and served as a member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives from 1984 to 1992.

A Trump-RFK Jr. ticket is the ultimate MAGA Trojan horse — and it’s being built in New Hampshire

CONCORD, N.H. — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. claimed his presidential candidate status in New Hampshire by filing a declaration of candidacy and paying a $1,000 filing fee; that's all it takes in the Granite State — sign your name and put up some chump change.

Identifying as a Democrat and purchasing real estate on the presidential primary ballot gives insight into the RFK Jr. campaign strategy: run as a Democrat while serving as the MAGA Trojan Horse.

For those not paying attention in ancient history class:

The Greeks succeeded in conquering Troy through trickery. They built a huge wooden horse and left it at the gates of Troy. They then pretended to sail away.

The Trojans believed the huge wooden horse was a peace offering to their gods and thus a symbol of their victory after a long siege. They pulled the giant wooden horse into the middle of the city. That night, after the Trojans had gone to bed, the Greek soldiers inside the horse got out, opened the gates of the city, and let in the remainder of the Greek army, which had sailed back under the cover of night. Taking the Trojans by surprise in the middle of the night, the Greeks were able to conquer Troy.

The blueprint is ancient, but the strategy is timeless. For decades, the Kennedy name served, like the horse to the Trojans, as a symbol of Democratic Party power and victories. Who better than a child of beloved Bobby Kennedy to climb on board as the Camelot-bred primary challenger to 80-year-old incumbent President Joe Biden — someone admired, but not necessarily desired, for 2024?

This Trojan horse doesn't even need to do the heavy lifting; no need to open the gates and let the Republican army in, since there is no Joe Biden on the New Hampshire presidential primary ballot. That’s right: Thanks to an intramural Democratic Party dispute (more on that shortly), RFK Jr. may very well win New Hampshire early next year. No matter that New Hampshire’s Democratic voters overwhelming prefer the White House’s current occupant.

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But RFK Jr is blessed twice. Not only is there no Joe in New Hampshire, but RFK Jr. is flush with cash that comes not from the Democratic faithful but a single GOP megadonor who has donated more than half the millions amassed by RFK Jr.'s super PAC.

A little research shows that there is so much more to RFK Jr. than his anti-vaxx rantings during the pandemic. But the attraction of his name, coupled with his crusade against all things pharma — even suggesting that ‘Vaccine Research’ was likely responsible for HIV and the Spanish Flu and pushing the false notion that antidepressants are linked to school shootings — plays the MAGA base like a fiddle, pipe and drum. Suggesting that the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 was bioengineered to spare the Jews and Chinese people, RFK Jr. proved that he does antisemitic/racist falsehoods nearly as well as the thrice-indicted Trump.

In true MAGA style, when questioned by Elizabeth Vargas at a town hall event whether he’d pledge to support whoever wins the Democratic nomination, Kennedy said, "of course I’m not gonna do that.”

Is Steve Bannon writing his script?

Speaking of Bannon, just a week ago, Bannon once again let the tiger out of the bag by suggesting that a Trump-RFK Jr. ticket would win in a “massive landslide”. The GOP, Bannon continued, would welcome RFK Jr., this ersatz Dem, into their lair. Kennedy has a favorability rating among Republicans that exceeds a 2-to-1 margin, and unlike a Kristi Noem or a Kari Lake, he has instant connection, via his surname, to every voter in America.

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Not to leave a stone unturned: Last Friday the RFK Jr. campaign filed a 27-page complaint in California alleging that YouTube and Google were acting as "state actors" by censoring his anti-vaxx interviews. RFK Jr.'s suit contends this is a way of serving the concerns of the federal government, and aiding and abetting his democratic primary rival Biden. The complaint gives him a free media strategy and serves as a convenient tool to gin up thousands of small-dollar donors who will revel in the free speech and anti-vaxx arguments being rolled out by RFK Jr.

But RFK Jr. has a surprising accomplice in his presidential primary strategy. The decision by the Democratic National Committee to change the primary calender — and awarding South Carolina the first presidential primary voting state — has turned out to be the gift that keeps on giving to the MAGA GOP. They have free "reign" to spin their partisan/fascist adjacent agenda in Iowa and New Hampshire, with RFK Jr. flipping the bird to the DNC. Who wouldn't be reveling in New Hampshire’s state law that requires New Hampshire to be the first-in-the-nation presidential primary?

So much to lose in 2024 and the Democratic Party appears to be unprepared to fight a war Trump has been promising since 2020. Ancient history wrote the script but well-paid democratic strategists preferred courses in economics and political science and not in the academic discipline known as classics — the study of ancient Greeks and Romans.

If he expects to win re-election next year, Biden needs to consult strategists who know Trojans are more than a condom.

Arnie Arnesen is the host of syndicated radio program "The Attitude with Arnie Arnesen". A former fellow at the Harvard Institute of Politics, Arnesen was the 1992 Democratic nominee for governor of New Hampshire and served as a member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives from 1984 to 1992.