Former NBC News host Chuck Todd stated on his podcast that the Democratic National Committee's (DNC) primary calendar appears intentionally designed to impede a progressive insurgent candidate in the 2028 presidential election.
"The more I study this map, the more I think, whether intentionally or simply by consequence — though I don't think there's any accidents in presidential politics — this calendar is intended to make life harder for an insurgent progressive. That's its intent," Todd said on "The Chuck ToddCast." He pointed to the sequence of states, opening with South Carolina and closing with Virginia, as evidence.
Todd suggested that if states like Wisconsin or Iowa were included in the early voting window, it would be more favorable to progressive candidates. The DNC's Rules and Bylaws Committee recently voted to maintain South Carolina as the first primary, followed by Nevada, New Hampshire, Michigan, Virginia, and New Mexico in the early window before Super Tuesday.
Reports indicate frustration among progressives regarding the decision to start in South Carolina, with one unnamed member of the Rules and Bylaws Committee telling Axios that the move could "shut down" a progressive candidate early and is "not a strategy for winning the electorate." This individual also stated, "the public is swinging left, and the establishment is trying to fight the winds of change."
However, Christale Spain, chair of the South Carolina Democratic Party and a former Bernie Sanders campaign staffer, pushed back against the narrative that a progressive candidate cannot win in the South. She emphasized the importance of retail politics in Southern states and suggested that a candidate like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez could succeed there.
Todd theorized that the current calendar would be the one he would create if his goal was to make it significantly harder for a progressive to secure the nomination, while simultaneously making it difficult for progressives to claim the calendar was specifically designed to stop them. He identified Virginia as a potential final hurdle for a progressive candidate gaining momentum.
While Todd noted that South Carolina has historically not been highly receptive to progressive socialist campaigns, he also acknowledged that in a crowded field, a progressive candidate could potentially secure second place with a significant percentage of votes, citing Bernie Sanders' past performances. He also proposed that a multi-candidate moderate field could splinter the moderate vote, allowing a progressive to consolidate progressive support and achieve a strong showing.
Ray Buckley, chair of New Hampshire's National Democratic Party, also expressed disapproval of the South Carolina selection, stating that many party insiders have "learned nothing from 2024." He argued that New Hampshire's rigorous primary process has a proven track record and that the committee's vote moves the party away from its objective of winning general elections.