New Hampshire

New Hampshire Primary Voters Can Send Biden a Powerful Message About Gaza

Published

2 years ago

January 18, 2024

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New Hampshire Primary Voters Can Send Biden a Powerful Message About Gaza

Politics

/
January 18, 2024

A campaign to write in the word “cease-fire” seeks to pressure the administration to shift its policy.

U.S. President Joe Biden returns to the White House December 20, 2023 in Washington, DC.

(Drew Angerer / Getty Images)

Andru Volinsky is a prominent New Hampshire Democrat. He served as a member of the state’s elected Executive Council, and nearly won the race to become the party’s gubernatorial nominee in 2020.

But on Tuesday, when New Hampshire holds its traditional first-in-the-nation presidential primary, Volinsky won’t be voting for President Biden. Instead, he will take his Democratic ballot, find the line for presidential write-ins, and print the word “cease-fire.”

“I’m not interested in replacing Biden,” says Volinsky, who expects that he will be voting for the president in November. “This is about getting a message to Biden about the urgent need for a cease-fire in Gaza.”

Volinsky won’t be alone. A grassroots movement has taken shape in the Granite State, one that’s urging voters in Tuesday’s primary to use their ballot to send a “cease-fire” signal in support of “de-escalation, humanitarian aid to Palestinians, and a just solution to the conflict in the Middle East.”

New Hampshire’s Vote Ceasefire campaign seeks to “draw attention to the urgent need to stop the violence in Palestine and the Middle East,” and let President Biden know that the United States must take action to end the killing in Gaza. And it’s gaining traction.

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Organizers have been fielding calls from across the state and around the country. They’re spreading the word on social media and distributing signs that urge voters to take a pen to the polls and register their discontent with the administration’s support of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the brutal assault on Gaza that has left more than 24,000 Palestinians dead, severely wounded tens of thousands and displaced an estimated 1.9 million men, women, and children.

That assault on Gaza, which followed the October 7 Hamas attack on Israeli kibbutzim and a music festival, has sparked an international outcry. In the United States, it has inspired mass demonstrations by American Muslims, Jews, and Christians calling for an end to the violence. It has also sparked significant dissension within Biden’s Democratic Party, as close to 60 members of the House and four Democratic senators have expressed support for a cease-fire.

But the Biden administration has not shifted its stance on the war. It continues to provide military aid for the Israel Defense Forces, as well as to push for Congress to fund additional aid. It’s also kept providing diplomatic cover for Netanyahu’s government at the United Nations. That’s led to frustration in New Hampshire, where Biden will face the first test of his 2024 reelection campaign.

This year’s New Hampshire primary is not sanctioned by the Democratic National Committee, and Biden’s name will not appear on the ballot with those of his most prominent challengers, author and 2020 presidential candidate Marianne Williamson and US Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minnesota. But there’s an active and reasonably well-financed campaign to write in Biden’s name. If there is a substantial anti-Biden vote in the primary, it’s likely to get the president’s attention—and that of Democratic strategists and pundits—at a point when his approval ratings are already low.

So the Vote Ceasefire campaign is seizing the opening. “We have tried to make our voices heard in Washington. We have been ignored,” says Morgan Brown, a New Hampshire activist who was busy organizing efforts to distribute posters, yard signs and flyers urging New Hampshire Democrats to send their message to Biden by writing in “Cease-fire.” “The problem is the Democratic Party only cares about their votes, and that’s why we need to take this to the polls.”

The write-in vote won’t be the only way to send a pro-cease-fire message. Williamson, who for months has been calling for de-escalation and who has made a progressive critique of the Biden administration’s foreign policy central to her candidacy, says the best way to pressure Biden is by backing her, “a candidate who has demanded a ceasefire from the very beginning.” Phillips has also indicated that he’s supportive of a cease-fire.

“I think that the combined votes for the ‘cease-fire’ write-in and for Marianne Williamson could send a powerful message on Tuesday,” says Alan Minsky, the executive director of Progressive Democrats of America. “I don’t know if it will be as big as the Eugene McCarthy ’68 anti-war vote, but people will certainly notice if activists can point to a significant number of votes that were cast in protest against the administration’s approach on Gaza.”

A 1968 challenge to Democratic President Lyndon Johnson by McCarthy, an anti-war senator from Minnesota, drew support from 42 of New Hampshire Democratic primary voters and shocked the political world, beginning a chain of events that would eventually lead to Johnson’s decision to end his reelection bid. Few are predicting that the grassroots Vote Ceasefire campaign, which started late and has almost no money behind it, will get that level of support. But if a significant percentage of New Hampshire voters write in “cease-fire,” it is likely that Vote Ceasefire campaigning will spread beyond the border of the Granite State, says Minsky.

Volinsky says organizers of the New Hampshire campaign have already heard from activists in other states. But, for now, they are focused on spreading the word to New Hampshire voters, and on making sure that the national media takes note if there is a large “cease-fire” vote on Tuesday. To that end, campaigners will be closely monitoring the count of so-called “scattered” write-in votes to ensure that their message is delivered to the White House

“The Biden administration was able to veto the United Nations resolution on a humanitarian cease-fire,” says Volinsky. “But on Tuesday they won’t be able to veto my vote demanding a cease-fire.”

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John Nichols

John Nichols is a national affairs correspondent for The Nation. He has written, cowritten, or edited over a dozen books on topics ranging from histories of American socialism and the Democratic Party to analyses of US and global media systems. His latest, cowritten with Senator Bernie Sanders, is the New York Times bestseller It’s OK to Be Angry About Capitalism.

Tiger Woods arrested on suspicion of DUI, authorities say

Published

10 hours ago

March 27, 2026

Press Room

Tiger Woods arrested on suspicion of DUI, authorities say

JUPITER ISLAND — Tiger Woods showed signs of impairment Friday at the scene of a car crash in which he struck another vehicle and rolled his Land Rover, authorities said.

Woods was arrested on suspicion of DUI. The Martin County Sheriff’s Office said Woods was not injured.

The crash occurred just after 2 p.m. not far from where Woods lives on Jupiter Island.

Woods’ manager at Excel Sports did not immediately respond to a text message seeking information.

This was at least the third time Woods has been involved in a car crash, most recently in February 2021 when his SUV ran off a coastal road in Los Angeles at a high rate of speed, leading to multiple leg and ankle injuries. Woods said later doctors considered amputation.

Woods has played 11 tournaments since that 2021 crash, not finishing closer than within 16 shots of the winner the four times he finished 72 holes.

He also was arrested on a DUI charge in 2017 when south Florida police found him asleep behind the wheel of his car that was parked awkwardly with damage to the driver’s side. Woods said he had taken a bad mix of painkillers. He later pleaded guilty to reckless driving.

Woods won his fifth Masters, and 15th major, in 2019. He has 82 wins on the PGA Tour, tied for the all-time record with Sam Snead.

Woods, 50, had been working his way back to golf from a seventh back surgery in September. He had not decided whether he could play in the Masters on April 9-12.

His last official tournament was the British Open in 2024. Woods ruptured his Achilles tendon in March 2025 and that kept him off the course all season even before the back surgery. He managed to play in his indoor TGL golf league on Tuesday night.

He has kept deeply involved in PGA Tour affairs as chairman of the Future Competition Committee that is restructuring the model of the tour.

Woods also faced a soft deadline at the end of the month to decide whether to become U.S. Ryder Cup captain for the 2027 matches in Ireland. Woods was offered the job for the last Ryder Cup and did not turn it down until June. The PGA of America wants a decision much sooner this time.

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New Hampshire

Hillary Clinton to return to New Hampshire | Fox News Video

Published

22 hours ago

March 27, 2026

Press Room

Hillary Clinton to return to New Hampshire | Fox News Video

Hillary Clinton is set to return to New Hampshire for a Democratic Party fundraiser while a progressive leader criticizes the party for being ‘tone-deaf’ by inviting her.

Hillary Clinton is returning to New Hampshire next month to headline the state’s Democratic Party’s annual spring fundraising dinner. A progressive leader criticizes the party as ‘tone-deaf’ for inviting Clinton, stating she’s ‘yesterday’s news.’ Fox News contributor Joe Concha weighs in on Clinton’s perceived comeback tour and discusses President Trump’s recent remarks about John F. Kennedy Jr.’s political ambitions.

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New Hampshire

NH lawmakers approve bill that would make judges’ job evaluations public

Published

1 day ago

March 26, 2026

Press Room

NH lawmakers approve bill that would make judges’ job evaluations public

A bill that would add elements to judicial performance evaluations for all state judges and make those evaluation reports public, cleared the New Hampshire House along party lines Thursday.

The bill’s backers, including Rep. Bob Lynn of Windham, former Chief Justice of New Hampshire Supreme Court, promoted the new requirements as a way to “invigorate” judicial performance, and said fully disclosing the reports is crucial.

“I have to emphasize this provision in the bill as well as the other provisions of the bill were adopted in consultation with the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court,” Lynn said

Under the bill, which was written with input from Supreme Court Chief Justice Gordon MacDonald, all judges – including part-time judges and retired judges who sometimes hear cases – would undergo evaluation at least every three years. Evaluations would include courtroom observations and analyses of how efficiently they process cases. Right now, judicial performance reviews remain confidential unless a judge receives two consecutive subpar evaluations.

The proposal comes at a time of tension between the judicial branch and lawmakers, spurred by recent court rulings finding the state isn’t meeting school funding obligations, and by judicial branch spending and management practices.

Democrats who criticized the new judicial evaluation bill say it goes too far and that the legislature should resist the urge to meddle in court operations.

“Many of us have been frustrated by recent activities coming out of the judicial branch – this is probably a bipartisan sentiment,” said Rep. Mark Paige of Exeter. “But to the extent that this bill appeals as a means to scratch your judicial frustration itch, consider other available remedies.”

Democrats also argued that making judicial reviews public could pose safety risks in an era of increased political violence including against judges.

“Publication would do real harm, inviting harassment of judges as violent threats against U.S judges have surged 327 percent since last year,” said Rep. Catherine Rombeau of Bedford, citing research from the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism.

But Republicans disputed such arguments, and said public reviews are also one of the few tools lawmakers have to make sure judges are performing their duties effectively.

“Judges are appointed once and serve until the age of 70,” said Rep. Ken Weyler of Kingston.

“All employees, including judges, benefit from constructive evaluation.”

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